


The Greyest Eyes

by Sophie_French



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blow Jobs, Coming Out, Developing Relationship, First Time, Firsts, Getting Together, HP: EWE, Hand Jobs, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Rating: NC17, Romance, Slash, Switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2017-12-28 22:58:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 88,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/997915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophie_French/pseuds/Sophie_French
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's one thing to discover you're gay at eighteen, another one to realise you have a crush on your long-term enemy, but you can tell things are definitely going to get complicated when you accidentally blurt out his name as your girlfriend kisses you... HP/DM. Eighth year fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An unexpected encounter

**Author's Note:**

> **23/10/15: This was the very first fic I wrote, two years ago, and even though this story is very close to my heart and I had tremendous fun writing it, it does have the flaws of a first fic and, well, let's say it shows. However, I’ve always refused to edit or rewrite this fic, because it’s important to me to see where I started from and how I’ve evolved throughout the process of writing it, and I have a real tenderness for it. So... there you go!**
> 
> The main pairing is Draco/Harry, but there will be other pairings too: Draco/Theo (first few chapters), Harry/Ginny (very briefly), Ron/Hermione  
> Feel free to leave a comment if you wish! ;-)
> 
> The lovely [Jupiter911111](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jupiter911111/pseuds/jupiter911111) is currently translating this story into Chinese! You can find her work [here!](http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2880701422)  
> I really want to thank her dearly for doing something like that, because it's a huge work to do, and I'm really honoured that someone would translate my story! So thank you so much! ♥
> 
> A huge thank you to my lovely beta Cleo for her constant support and encouragement! ♥

"Shit!"

Harry Potter stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, the back of his left hand resting on his forehead. He fumbled quickly in his school bag, Ron and Hermione patiently waiting for him by the stairs, tenderly holding hands. Harry looked up at them. "I forgot my Potions book in my room again. You two go ahead and I'll meet you in the Great Hall in a minute." His two best friends nodded quickly and started down the stairs.

Harry hurriedly climbed the stairs back to the deserted West Tower that was now home of the returning 'eighth years', students whose education had somehow been disrupted by the war during their seventh year and who had been exceptionally allowed back to complete their studies.

It was an odd thing to be back at the castle.

It had been a little bit over four months since the downfall of Voldemort and traces of the ferocious war that had taken place there were still visible all around the castle, even though most of it had already been rebuilt. Enough anyway to welcome the students back and start the new school year.

Minerva McGonagall, the freshly appointed headmistress of Hogwarts had decided that since only a handful of students had returned for their eighth year, they would be accommodated together in the West Tower, no matter what houses they had previously belonged to. It had been weird and a little uncomfortable at first, but three weeks into the school year, it was now a pretty common occurrence to see Pansy Parkinson and the Patil sisters gossiping about the hot guys of Hogwarts, slouched on one of the couches by the fireplace or Ron enjoying a fierce game of chess with Blaise Zabini on one of the few desks scattered around the room.

Harry hastily gave the password to the Silver Knight guarding the entrance of the eighth years' common room. It was the second time this week he had been forgetting a book. Damn, he had to be more focused on his studies if he wanted to pass his NEWTs at the end of the year and eventually become an Auror!

Walking the few steps down the corridor to the common room and the flight of stairs leading to his private quarters (a most welcomed privilege for the returning eighth years), he frowned as he heard unexpected noises. It was odd since everybody was supposedly in the great hall having breakfast and he was sure he had been the last one to leave the common room earlier. He started carefully but soon froze again. Walking slowly closer, he could now distinctly hear gasping sounds mixed with giggles coming from the common room. God. There were definitely people enjoying themselves in there! Intrigued and a little uncomfortable, he held his breath and took a careful look.

Nothing could have prepared him for the shock of discovering what was happening right before his eyes.

Lying on the couch near the fireplace, completely oblivious to anything else around him, lay a very dishevelled Theodore Nott, tie loosened on his open shirt. Straddled on top, stripped to the waist and snogging the hell out of him, was none other than Nott's fellow Slytherin and Harry's former nemesis, Draco Malfoy.

Harry and Malfoy had come to a certain kind of truce after all that had happened during the war. A few days after the end of it all, Harry had gone to Malfoy Manor to return Draco's wand. They were not friends, not even close to it, but they both had come a long way and were not fighting anymore. Draco mostly kept to himself these days anyway and the two of them basically ignored each other which was perfectly fine by them.

Completely startled by what he was seeing, Harry couldn't move. He stood there, taking in the sight of the two young men intensely making out right there in front of him. He couldn't take his eyes away from Malfoy, fascinated by the way he seemed to be completely abandoning himself to what he was doing, guards down, cheeks flushed, like Harry had never ever seen him before. From where he stood, Harry could see the fading Dark Mark on Malfoy's left forearm and felt a thrill running down his spine.

He was snapped out of his reverie by a very angry voice coming from the couch.

"Potter! What exactly the hell you think you're doing here?" The two young men were panting heavily, staring at him like they couldn't believe he was there, Malfoy still on top of Nott's frail body.

"I... I...," Harry stammered. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find anything to say.

"Well move already! Don't you see we're in the middle of something here?" he paused, squinting his eyes. "Unless of course..." Malfoy had a mischievous smirk on his face, "you want to join in?"

Harry's cheeks turned deep red at the suggestion. "What? No! I... I..."

"Already said that Potter," Malfoy snapped. "Care to elaborate?" Harry heard Nott chortle next to his boyfriend. Stupid git.

Without thinking, Harry blurted: "Aren't you two supposed to be having breakfast?" Oh shit. He had not just said that? What the hell was wrong with him?

"Well", Malfoy sneered, "can't you tell this is exactly what we're doing right now?" Nott couldn't suppress a giggle. Harry could have killed the guy.

"I... Never mind." Without another word, he turned around and fled the common room, forgetting at once why he had been there in the first place and running away from the two boys as fast as he could.

Completely bewildered by what he had just witnessed, he didn't see the shock of red hair coming the other way and fell to the ground with a thud, spilling the contents of his bag on the floor. Shit. He mumbled an apology before realising he had run into none other than Ginny Weasley.

Great. His day couldn't have started better than this.


	2. Doomed

"Shit," Malfoy had said as soon as Potter had left the room. He felt Theo's warm fingers on his right cheek. He kissed them tenderly and looked down at the boy. "Guess the party's over now. We'd better get ready for our first lesson." He laid a small kiss on the other boy's lips and stood up, picking up his shirt and putting it back on deftly.

Something was bugging him.

It wasn't that Potter had seen him with another boy - he couldn't care less about Potter knowing he was gay after all - but rather the fact that he had been exposed in such a way, displaying his feelings like this in the open. Yeah, that. That was really bothering him.

"You don't reckon he will tell anyone, do you?" Theo asked sounding a little worried. Draco pondered that for a second. "No," he said after a while, buttoning his shirt up. "He wouldn't. He would be too embarrassed by the whole thing anyway." Draco was also ready to bet the stupid Gryffindor would be far too noble to walk around and gossip about them being together. No. Potter would definitely not tell anyone about them.

They finished dressing, tying each other's ties back on in between a few more kissing sessions, and then left the room with their bags on their shoulders.

 _Too bad_ , thought Draco regretfully, pausing to send a last look at the couch they'd just left. _It had been such a promising beginning of the day._

* * *

 

Right after the war, Harry had taken time to think back on everything that had happened to him up till then: the defeat of Voldemort of course, the surrender of the last of the Death Eaters, the numerous friends he had lost and now mourned and the latest revelations that had been made regarding Snape and Dumbledore.

He had spent a huge amount of time resting and sleeping. It had felt weird having nothing to do, nothing that needed taking care of but he had been so utterly exhausted after the final battle that his body simply couldn't cope anymore. He'd had to rest. That was the reason why he had spent a few weeks over the summer at the Burrow, under the close surveillance of Molly Weasley who had insisted on him eating properly and relaxing constantly.

During those few weeks, Ginny had shown her interest in him again, wishing to rekindle the relationship they'd had before. However, Harry had insisted on taking things slow. He didn't want to rush things between them. On the surface, it looked as though he needed time to get over the events of the past few months. On the inside, Harry wasn't really sure he wanted Ginny the way she wanted him. Sure, he liked her a lot, it was nice to kiss her, but she felt more like a little sister to him now than really like a lover. Harry didn't want to lead her on, and had expressed his wish to take things slow on several occasions. Ginny had respected that and had given him space whenever he had needed some and he was very grateful for that.

The unexpected encounter with Theo Nott and Draco Malfoy a few days ago had left him thinking a lot. He turned red every time he thought about what he had seen, the passion he had witnessed between the two young men and the way he had been interrupting such an intimate moment. He had really been embarrassed by Malfoy's words suggesting him to join them, and even though he had known Malfoy had only been playing with him, it had left a sense of unease in him. The git was certainly having fun with that, since every time Harry laid eyes on him now - and he tried to avoid that as much as possible - the arrogant prat smirked and winked at him looking quite pleased with himself. That made Harry blush and want to hide away every time.

On top of it all, Harry couldn't fight the strange feeling he had when thinking about Malfoy's naked chest. He was thoroughly impressed with the pale skin that had been displayed to him in such a way. He had of course seen lots of other men's bodies in the showers of the Quidditch changing rooms over the years but none of them had left him with such a feeling of... what was it... Fascination? Longing? Arousal? No, no, it couldn't be any of that of course, it was completely absurd!  
And yet, lying in his bed that night, closing his eyes, he couldn't help wondering what it would feel like to press his fingers on the delicate skin of Malfoy's chest, to caress him slowly and bring a flush of pink to that beautiful face while brushing his lips to Malfoy's own full lips...

Harry snapped back to reality and opened his eyes with a start. What the hell was he doing? For Christ's sake, it was Malfoy he was thinking about! A boy! A stupid, despising, arrogant, Slytherin prat! And an ex-Death Eater at that! Had he suddenly lost his mind? He was not, absolutely not, positively not... like... like that! He was attracted to girls! He liked girls! He liked their soft curves, their delicate features, their perfect skin and the way they smelled! He liked their gorgeous pale skin and the way their soft white hair was always so perfectly in place, and all he could think about now was how this beautiful white blond hair would feel under his fingers...

Oh God.

He was doomed.

He buried his head under his pillow and let silent tears run down his cheeks.


	3. Something wrong

Something was wrong.

Hermione could feel it. She'd been friends with Harry long enough to know when something wasn't quite right. But however hard she thought about it, she couldn't put her finger on what was going on.

And that was really annoying.

She didn't want to tell anyone. Especially not Ron. Not yet anyway. Ron was a lovely guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and would probably ask Harry what was wrong in a very straightforward manner and Hermione just  _knew_  Harry would dismiss everything at once and not give any answers. No. She had to do it on her own for now.

And she would start by closely observing him.

* * *

Harry was trying very hard, but he couldn't get over the feelings that were completely overwhelming him, feelings he didn't quite understand, feelings that scared the shit out of him, feelings he never suspected he had before and feelings he  _really_  didn't want to have.

He was rather good at burying them deep during the day but it was harder at night. At night, in the privacy of his room, his brain and body were driving him crazy. He felt utterly exhausted.

The problem was that he had many lessons in common with the object of his...  _interest_. And it was pretty hard to act as if everything was perfectly normal when the other boy was so close.

Especially when the stupid git kept doing things to torment him. Like right now during Charms, when he was discreetly putting a hand on his boyfriend's thigh and bringing it slowly closer to the other boy's crotch... God. That was driving him crazy! He couldn't stop his brain from thinking what it would feel like to have Malfoy's hand on his thigh like that. And that was doing funny things to his own groin...

He shifted on his seat a little to adjust the growing arousal in his pants. God, he was in agony. And he had absolutely no one to talk to. He was feeling so scared and lonely. But nobody could help him. Not even his friends this time. Nope. His friends would completely freak out if they knew. He was on his own on this one. He sighed heavily and tried to bring his attention back to whatever Flitwick was trying to teach them.

* * *

Hermione had been looking at Harry for a moment now and had come to one conclusion: he  _was_  acting weird. To anyone else in the room, there probably didn't seem to be anything wrong with the Boy-Who-Lived but Hermione could tell. She knew him so well.

And right now she could feel he was uncomfortable.  _Very_  uncomfortable. Hell, she could  _see_  it. It was written all over his face. There was a flush creeping up his neck and he was shifting uneasily on his seat. And he kept stealing glances at someone.

But not anyone.

She followed his gaze and stopped on Malfoy, sitting two rows further on next to Theo Nott. She frowned. Malfoy? What was it with Malfoy now that made her friend squirm like that? There were no more reasons now for Harry to be obsessed by Malfoy the way he had been in sixth year, when Harry kept stalking him. In the end he had been right of course. But what about now? Nobody could believe for one second that Malfoy was indulging in illicit activities anymore! No. There had to be something else. But  _what_?

* * *

Harry was so hot now. He had to get out of here. Luckily for him, the lesson - and his own little torture - were coming to an end. He rushed to the door as fast as he could.

In his haste, he didn't see Malfoy doing exactly the same.

He found himself stuck in the door with the prat.

_Oh no._

What the hell was wrong with him? He must have pissed off the gods badly! He stood frozen in place as he felt Malfoy's body so close to him.

"Move Potter! Can't you see you're in the way?" Malfoy scowled. His face was so close to him now that he could see the little specks of blue in his beautiful grey eyes. Harry stood there, fascinated. He couldn't have moved if his life had depended on it. Which was thankfully not the case.

"What the hell is wrong with you Potter?" Harry opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out. Instead he let his eyes drift down to Malfoy's sensual mouth and unconsciously licked his lips in one swift movement. God, they were so close he could feel Malfoy's warm breath on his skin, so close they could kiss... Harry shivered at the thought. Malfoy frowned and eyed him strangely, looking slightly puzzled.

A strong hand suddenly pushed him forward and snapped him out of his daze. He felt a determined Hermione urging him to move, hand firmly pressed on his back. She mouthed a quick "later!" to Ron who nodded briefly and she quickly walked Harry away. They moved swiftly and didn't stop until they'd reached an empty old Arithmancy classroom. She opened the door and gestured him inside.

Harry sat on one of the desks. Hermione checked nobody had seen them, closed the door and sat right next to him.

Harry was waiting for her to say something.

"We need to talk," she said determinedly. "I... okay." Harry started to fidget uncomfortably. She put a hand on his thigh which made him jump a little. She frowned slightly at the odd reaction and thought about what to say next.

She took a deep breath, not wanting to upset him.

"Look. I know there's something with you and I know it has to do with Malfoy." Harry froze and shut down instantly.  _Shit_. She softly took his hand in hers and looked him right in the eyes. "Harry... Listen, I know this must be hard, but we're friends and friends are here to help. Please let me help you." The last few words had almost been whispered. She felt him tense as he turned his head away, in an attempt to hide the tears that were threatening to form in his eyes. She put a hand on his cheek, gently inviting him to look at her again.

He slowly regained his composure and murmured: "I... I can't tell you Hermione."

"Why not?" She softly replied.

"It's..." He sighed again. "It's just... it's just too hard right now..." The tears were back in his eyes.

"I understand." She paused and looked straight into his eyes. "But please know that I'll  _always_  be there for you okay? No matter what you do, no matter what you feel, no matter what you think you are or who you think you are.  _Always_  Harry."

He nodded quietly. She gently took him in her arms and held him close. He put his head on her shoulder, feeling slightly better.

Perhaps he didn't have to go through it all on his own after all.

* * *

Harry was standing by the lake. It was a beautiful day and the sun was very bright in the sky. He was looking at the trees beyond the lake, when he felt two arms wrapping him from behind, bringing him close. He smiled and closed his eyes. A soft mouth started pressing gentle kisses on his neck and he shivered. He opened his eyes and slowly turned around, sending his arms around Draco´s neck, abandoning himself in his embrace. Draco gently smiled at him, his gaze intense. Their mouths came closer. Their lips slowly brushed together and soon they were kissing passionately. Draco's hands were all over his body, touching him where he had never been touched by anyone before. Draco slowly started to open Harry's trousers under his robes, his hand soon crawling under the fabric of his boxers as his mouth was hungrily assaulting Harry's neck again. Harry threw his head back and moaned loudly when he felt experienced fingers encircling his hardness-

He woke up with a start in his bed, panting heavily, an uncomfortable sensation in his crotch area.  _Shit_.

Another wet dream.

Again.

It had been the third time this week. And every single time he had been dreaming about Draco.

Harry had voluntarily been ignoring his  _needs_  all of this week, not touching himself at all, which was quite a challenge when you were eighteen, because he  _knew_  it would take him to places he refused to go. The problem was, as he could see right now, his mind wouldn't let his body leave him alone anyway.

He sighed heavily, sat in his bed and grabbed his wand on the nightstand. He quickly cast a cleaning charm on himself and leaned back on his pillows.

It had to stop. He had to do something about this... this  _problem_. But he was so confused... He didn't want to be like that! Once again, he felt tears forming in his eyes. Shit. He seemed to be crying a fricking lot lately.

Why couldn't he be like anyone? Why couldn't he be like Ron, or Seamus or any of those guys? Why couldn't he just find a nice girl, like Ginny, fall in love with her, marry her, have kids and live happily ever after?

Wait a minute.

He could. It was easy. Hell, he'd already done it before!

Ginny was a lovely girl and he liked her very much. He could spend more time with her and forget all the disturbing thoughts he'd had lately...

That was it! He could still make things right! He would go back to Ginny and everything would be as it used to!

Dead simple. Why hadn't he thought about that before?

Feeling much better than he'd been in days, he fell asleep almost instantly, a smile on his face.

* * *

He woke up feeling great. He took a quick shower, once again completely ignoring his throbbing erection and went down to have breakfast with his friends. After the thinking he'd been doing at night, he felt so good and oh so relieved!

He sat down next to Ginny and joined the conversations. Ron and Seamus were having a passionate debate about the Chudley Canons' new keeper ("Definitely NOT as good as Primus last year! The guy couldn't save a goal if his life depended on it!") while Hermione and Ginny were talking about the changes in the library after it had been renovated ("Much more cosy and much better organised.")

God it was good to have normal conversations again and not be distracted by inappropriate thoughts! He had been agonising over his unwanted desires those last few days but hopefully it was all in the past. He could now focus entirely on his future, and his future was the beautiful girl next to him. He gently took her hand and smiled at her.

He moved closer to her and softly murmured in her ear, "Would you like to meet me this afternoon by the lake?"

Ginny seemed a bit surprised but replied with a smile, "I'd love to."

He kissed her hand. See? No problem. He could do that, it wasn't so hard! He saw Hermione frown at the tender gesture but she said nothing. He went back to discussing the latest exploits of the Chudley Canons with Ron and Seamus, remaining close to the red-haired girl.

As Ginny was talking to him, he couldn't help throwing a glance at the table at the other end of the room and caught a certain blond Slytherin staring at him intensely. He quickly looked at Ginny again and tried to focus his attention back to whatever it was she was telling him.

* * *

Draco was utterly confused by Potter's behaviour lately. Like what had happened in Charms the other day. Potter had had a strange look about him that had made him uncomfortable. It wasn't the way they dealt with one another usually and for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about it. There was something that he couldn't quite understand about it all, something that didn't fit, but he couldn't exactly put a finger on it.

He was sent back to reality by Theo's warm hand on his thigh. It was nice being with the boy. He was pretty and they had good fun together in bed. True enough, their relationship was mostly physical and Draco knew there wasn't much beyond that but it was pleasant and a good distraction from the crazy amount of work they were given and the constant pressure of the upcoming NEWTs.

Draco's eyes drifted again as he watched Potter once more. He frowned as he saw the stupid Weaselette giggling dumbly at whatever he was telling her and looking at Potter with googly eyes. What the hell was Potter doing with her? He saw nothing remotely attractive in her. And it wasn't because he was gay. He knew a pretty girl when he saw one and the Weaselette wasn't even remotely appealing. And Potter was definitely out of her league.

He finished his breakfast lost in his thoughts and left the Great Hall followed by his friends.

* * *

Harry was standing by the lake, waiting for Ginny. On the whole it had been a good day. He'd managed to go through it without thinking too much about the blond prat.

Everything was going to be fine from now on, he knew it.

He felt two arms wrapping him from behind and winced at the sensation of  _déjà-vu_. He turned around and placed a chaste kiss on Ginny's lips. It felt kind of odd and he couldn't help thinking about the kiss he'd shared with Malfoy in his dream. Of course it had been a dream and dreams always felt different from real life. In dreams, the sensations were enhanced and things always looked much better than reality. So much better than in reality. Hey, that was why they were called dreams after all.

"Harry, is everything alright?" He blinked as he realised he had been daydreaming again.

"Yes, of course! Everything's fine!" He leaned in to kiss Ginny again but she stopped him by pressing a finger on his lips.

"So, have you been doing some thinking? About us I mean?" She inquired.

"Yes, I have. And... And what we had before the war was good Ginny, and I want that back. I want to be with you." Harry said in a breath.

She looked deep in his eyes, searching for evidence of what he was saying.

She must have found something since she came closer, pressed her body flush against Harry's and kissed him full on the lips. He closed his eyes and let the sensations flood him. "God I've missed you!" She murmured in his ear, breaking the kiss. She started trailing gentle kisses on his face, along his jawline and down his neck, her hands resting on the small of his back. Harry's mind started drifting away and he was soon completely lost in the moment. He was enjoying the light kisses of the boy now, feeling the soft touch of his hands all over him. He threw his head back and whispered, "Ummm... So good  _Draco_..."

" _What?_ " Ginny said shoving him hard.

Harry violently came back to reality and opened his eyes, the weight of what he'd just said slowly dawning on him.

Ginny took a step back but was so shocked that she couldn't say a word. She was gaping at him, eyes wide open and slowly put a hand on her mouth.

Harry stepped forward. " _Fuck_ , oh  _fuck_  Ginny, I'm... I'm so... so sorry, I... was...  _Shit_... I..." Unable to form a coherent sentence, he turned away and ran back to the castle as fast as he could, tears ragingly running down his face, blurring his vision, all the while wishing he were dead.


	4. Getting there

The West Tower common room was pretty crowded on the late afternoon of this mid-October day. The days were rapidly getting shorter and the soft light from outside was filtering through the numerous windows, giving the place a warm and cosy feel. It was a nice room, especially with the fireplace, and the eighth year students really enjoyed spending their free time there, away from the turmoil of the castle and the younger students.

Dean and Neville were slouched on one of the sofas near the fireplace, trying to finish their Transfigurations essay but failing remarkably. Seamus was sitting next to them on the floor, leaning on the very same sofa, looking very bored and yawning constantly, a piece of parchment in his hand.

Giggles kept coming from the fireplace where Pansy Parkinson, the Patil sisters and Hannah Abbott were playing a card game. Theodore Nott, always the quiet one, was reading in a corner of the room and stealing glances to the lean blond who was deep in conversation with Blaise at the other end of the room.

Deeply focused on a large book sitting on the desk in front of her, surrounded by half a dozen parchments, Hermione was furiously taking notes while Ron was sitting across the desk from her, quill in his hand, his mind wandering leisurely, eyes on the ceiling.

They jumped all at once as they heard a clearly pissed off someone shouting the password at the portrait of the Silver Knight - who by the way, didn't appreciate being treated that way  _at all_  and dryly pointed it out - and saw a very upset Harry Potter storming through the common room without a glance at anyone and soon disappearing up the stairs leading to his bedroom.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other in bewilderment before hastily leaving their desk to run after Harry.

The others stared for a while and then quietly went back to whatever they were doing before. Seamus and Neville briefly pondered following them but decided against it since Hermione and Ron were already up there with their friend.

* * *

Harry didn't stop once. He ran all the way up to his private quarters, not even bothering to look back. He burst into his room and hurriedly locked the door before collapsing on his bed. He pulled himself in a foetal position and closed his eyes tight.

God he was fucked! Nobody would ever talk to him again after that and he couldn't even blame them!

And Ron... Ron was going to kill him!

He heard a soft knock. Hermione's muffled voice called his name from behind the door. He didn't want to talk to her. He didn't want to talk to any of them. He just wanted to lie here and die alone. Which would inevitably happen as soon as everybody would know what he'd done.

"Harry, please let us in!" Hermione was pleading. "Talk to me!"

"Yeah Harry, come on mate, open the fricking door!" Ron echoed, desperately pressing the handle many times without effect.

"Just... Go away! Leave me alone!" Harry managed to say.

"Come on Harry! Remember what I told you the other day! We're here to help!" Hermione said desperately.

There was a pause and then Harry heard them arguing faintly about something behind the door. He threw a pillow on his head in a feeble attempt to block any sound coming from outside.

God, he was utterly, thoroughly fucked.

* * *

"There's no use!" Ron leaned heavily on the locked door. "He won't open to us. Hell, he won't open to anyone. I'm sure he wouldn't even let us in if the Minister asked him to."

Hermione looked at him with a weird expression on her face. "What did you just say?"

"Er, the bit about the Minister?" He answered scratching his head, slightly puzzled.

"But Ron, that's brilliant!"

He frowned. "Are you making fun of me? Cause this is neither the place nor the time..."

"Ron," Hermione started cautiously. "I think I... Ok, this is going to sound crazy to you but I think... I think it could work! If only..."

"What?" Ron interrupted. "What could?"

"I think... I think I can find someone to talk to him. Someone who could reach him, someone he might even let in..."

Ron squinted his eyes. "And that would be...?"

"Malfoy," she blurted. She didn't know why, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her.

" _What?_  Are you out of your mind? Why would  _Malfoy_  of all people manage to get to him? And that's imagining the selfish bastard would accept doing something for us, hell, something for Harry!"

"Look," she said gently putting a calming hand on his arm. "I know it sounds crazy but I think it could work. What else can we do anyway? He won't open the door to us!"

Ron seemed to ponder that. "But how on earth are you going to bring Malfoy, of all people, to come up here?"

She sighed. "I don't know. But I think it's worth giving it a shot."

He looked at her for a moment and said, "Fine. Do it. Go and fetch the guy. I'll stay here just in case." He paused and addressed the door. "Mate, you have no idea what you're making us do. You'll owe us big time once everything is sorted out!"

* * *

"Malfoy, can I have a word with you?" Hermione had lost no time, going straight to him, putting aside the perplexed looks on her friends' faces. "Please?" She added. No need to antagonise the prat unnecessarily.

Malfoy slowly looked at Blaise, who shrugged at him helplessly. He brought his attention back to Hermione, considering her for a moment. "And why would I do that?" He finally replied.

Hermione tried to remain calm.  _You're doing this for Harry_ , she reminded herself. "Well, because I'm asking nicely."

He sneered. "And since when you asking me something nicely makes me want to do it Granger?" Blaise couldn't repress a smile. She eyed him furiously.  _Breathe_ , Hermione,  _breathe_.

She studied Draco for a moment and then hissed. "Never mind. Drop it." She said coolly. "I knew it wasn't any use asking  _you_  of all people. Guess we'll have to find another way to get to Harry" she added sheepishly to herself and started walking away.

"Wait a minute." Malfoy stood up. "You need  _me_  to get to Potter?" That was interesting.

"Malfoy," Hermione lowered her voice and looked nervously around. "Not here." She started for the stairs leading to Harry's bedroom. Malfoy didn't move. "Come on!" She gestured him to follow her. He looked undecided for a moment and then sighed. "Fine. I'm coming."

Hermione turned around and hurriedly climbed the stairs, a victorious smile on her face.

* * *

"Hermione! You did it!" Ron whispered in her ear, softly kissing her cheek. "Always the tone of surprise," she answered with a wink. He was beaming at her.

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt this utterly touching scene but are you finally going to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Malfoy asked impatiently. "I'm a pretty busy guy and I have stuff to do," he scowled.

"Right." Hermione started, ignoring the annoyed look on her boyfriend's face.

"As you witnessed first-hand earlier, Harry looked pretty upset when he crossed the common room and he won't let us in. We thought... We thought that maybe he would let  _you_  in."

"Me? Are you out of your mind Granger? Why would he talk to  _me_  when he won't even let you?"

"There, I told you!" Said Ron triumphantly. "My point exactly!"

Hermione gave him a dark look and reported her attention back to Malfoy.

She sighed heavily. "I don't know... He doesn't seem to be himself lately and I thought... Anyway, I thought maybe, for one reason, he'd let you in." She paused and looked at them. "But we can choose to argue about it for hours on or we could at least try it and see how it goes, right?"

Malfoy seemed to ponder that for a moment and finally sighed. "All right, I'll do it." Ron and Hermione cheered inwardly.

* * *

Harry was exhausted. He felt like all the energy he might have had before had left his body. He wasn't crying anymore but he was still a mess.

This morning he thought he had it all figured out and tonight... Well tonight his whole world had fallen apart.

He was brought back to the present by a very familiar voice.

"Potter! Open the door!"

 _Malfoy_?

What the hell was  _Malfoy_  doing at his door? Was it a trick of his imagination?

"Potter?" Malfoy paused. "Potter, look, I don't have the whole night so would you please open the goddamn door?"

Please?  _Please?_  In seven years, Harry had  _never_  heard the prat plead once.

He heard his friends talking in animated voices to Draco. After a while, the familiar voice was back at the door.

"Oh come on Potter! Stop being such a drama queen and open the fricking door!"

Harry was thinking hard. Then, on an impulse, he jumped out of bed and slowly unlocked the door.

His friends were staring at him like they couldn't believe he was real. Malfoy, nodding slightly to Hermione, walked in through the door.

Harry looked at his two best friends for a second before gently closing the door and locking it again, turning around to face the blond menace who was now in his room.

* * *

"My God, Potter, your room is a mess! I too would be very upset if I had to live in such a repulsing place!"

Potter's room was indeed poorly kept. Clothes were scattered all over the room and the floor, the chair and the small desk by the window were covered in them. The desk was also littered with parchments and quills. There was no way anyone could work on that.

Potter was still standing by the door. Draco sat on the end of the four poster bed and eyed him carefully.

"So, I've been asked to come and talk to you," he clasped his hands together. "Here I am! What do you want to talk about?"

"I... I never asked for anything. You're free to leave if you want to, Malfoy." Potter said moodily.

Draco squinted his eyes and slowly said, "Yeah, right. Well I don't think that is going to be possible. You see, if I leave right now, without having at least tried to talk to you, Granger and the Weasel will hex the crap out of me. And I'd sincerely like to avoid that. You see, surprisingly, I am not into pain that much."

Potter hid his face in his hands and exhaled heavily. "I... I can't do this... It's just... too hard."

Draco stood at once and came closer. "What the hell is wrong with you Potter? You defeated the greatest Dark Wizard of all times and here you are, hiding in your room and crying like a little girl!"

Potter slowly removed his hands from his face and looked at him angrily. "Fuck you, Malfoy." He seethed.

"Well... Would you rather not talk before?" Draco replied with a smirk.

"What?" Potter muttered, confused. Then he blushed furiously as he caught Draco's innuendo. He gaped for a second and then started shaking badly, looking furious. Draco took a step back to the bed.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Potter blurted, coming dangerously closer and pointing an accusing finger at Draco. "Why do you keep torturing me like that? What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?"

Draco felt the back of his legs hit the foot of the bed and he fell heavily on it, taken aback by the other boy's reaction. Then, to his surprise, Potter suddenly calmed down and muttered. "Shit. I... I can't. I give up."

He sat on the other end of the bed, next to his nightstand, hiding his head in his hands again.

Draco quickly regained composure. "Oh come on, Potter! These are just words! I'm just playing! You should try it some-"

 _Oh_.

Draco sat up with a start, completely baffled as it finally all fell into place. Potter's weird behaviour around him lately, the strange feeling that had been nagging him for days... That was it! It all made sense now!

Draco slowly stood up, walked silently and sat next to him. He gently removed the boy's hands from his face. Looking in the deep green eyes, he softly asked, "Potter... are you gay?"

Potter slowly looked away and nodded. "I... I think I might be..."

"But... What about..." Draco frowned. "I saw you this morning with the... hum, girl Weasley. You seemed pretty cosy together."

"Oh God... Ginny... I did something terrible to her." Potter said in a breath, hiding his face in his hands once more.

Draco eyed him suspiciously. "What. You killed her and buried her in the Forbidden Forest or something?"

Potter lowered his hands again slowly and murmured hesitantly. "Worse. I called someone else's name when she was kissing me."

Draco settled back on his hands. "Ouch. That must have hurt." He paused. "Let me guess... It was a boy's name?"

Potter looked intensely at Draco, a strange look on his face, and nodded slowly.

"Well, at least now she'll leave you alone! One Weasel down, but plenty others left! Draco added with a wink. "And now I suppose you could do the brother."

Potter looked at him with a funny look. "Ron? Ewww!"

"Yeah, my thought exactly," replied Draco, an expression of disgust on his face.

"No! I mean, I like Ron very much but not, like  _that_!"

"Right. Whatever." Draco replied with a dismissing gesture.

They kept silent for a moment. "Well, I sure wouldn't have bet on you. Longbottom maybe, but you... nope. Not in a million years."

Potter looked at him incredulously. "Neville is not gay," he chuckled.

"Really? You sure about that?" Draco was genuinely surprised. "You should see the way he looks at me! I know I'm devastatingly handsome but it's kind of embarrassing sometimes."

Potter chortled. "He looks at you because he's scared of you. He's terrified you're going to hex him first chance you get."

"Well, I can hardly deny I've been tempted many times. I might even have indulged in it once or twice. Can't help it if the guy has terrible taste in clothes. It hurts my sensibility every time."

Harry laughed heartily. "You're a git," he said after a while.

"Yep. Been told many times. At some point I even thought it was my middle name." Draco paused, looking at Potter again. "Feeling better?"

Potter exhaled heavily. "Yeah, I think so."

Draco stood up. "Good. I think I should leave you to your friends, then."

Potter nodded.

Draco started walking to the door. "Are you going to tell anyone?" Potter asked.

Draco held off for a second, facing the door. "No," he answered quietly and went for the doorknob.

"Malfoy?" Draco turned to look at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Potter." Draco opened the door and left the room.

The Weasel looked at him suspiciously for a second and went hastily for Potter. Granger mouthed a quiet "thank you" to him before walking in and closing Potter's bedroom door behind her.

Hell, two 'thank yous' in less than five minutes? That was more than Draco usually had in a whole year!


	5. Friends

Ron and Hermione sat on the bed on either side of Harry.

"Are you okay?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes, I'm fine," Harry said. "I have to go and talk to Ginny though."

"Something happened between the two of you?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at them both. "Well, yes. That's why I have to go and find her. But I just can't talk about it right now."

"Ok, we understand. Go Harry," Hermione said.

Ron wouldn't let it go so easily. "Wait. That thing that happened between you two... it's nothing too bad, right?"

"No, I promise. But I really need to go and talk to her now. I'll catch you later." He stood up and looked at them both. "Thank you guys. For everything."

"You're very welcome Harry. Now go!" Hermione pressed him.

He quickly left the room and went down the stairs.

Ron turned to Hermione and kissed her softly on the mouth.

She smiled. "What was that for, Ronald Weasley?"

"You're just... perfect. I love you." He kissed her again. "You've managed to find a way to get to him. I don't know what Malfoy has told him, but it certainly seemed to help Harry. You're brilliant." He was beaming at her. "I'm so lucky to have you."

She blushed. "And me you." She gently stroked his cheek. "And I'm happy Harry is feeling better, even if I'm sure he still has a long way to go."

"Yeah. I wish he would tell us. It's hard not to know what's bugging him like that."

"Yes..." she said thoughtfully. "Well, he will. At one point." She put her hand on his. "Until then, we need to be here for him and show him we love him."

"Right." Ron paused, scanning the room. "I was thinking. Since we're here..."

"Ronald Weasley! We will NOT do naughty things in Harry's bedroom! Come on!" she said laughing as he stood and took his hand.

Ron threw a last glance at the room. "Too bad..."

* * *

Harry was walking at a good pace in the corridors of Hogwarts. He first went to Gryffindor Tower and asked a couple of girls exiting the common room that had been his home for many years if Ginny was inside but she wasn't. He also checked the library and the courtyard but she wasn't there either. He probably could have taken the Marauders Map with him, but in the spur of the moment, he had simply forgotten about it.

He finally found Ginny where he had left her half an hour ago. She was sitting by the lake, chin resting on her knees and still had tears in her eyes.

She was the first to talk.

"I'd always imagined," she started, staring at the lake in front of her, "from the very first day I met you that we would spend our lives together. It was so obvious to me that I never considered anyone else," she sighed and stood up, turning to face him. "Funny how one can be wrong sometimes."

"Ginny... I am so, so sorry," Harry said unhappily.

"You are, aren't you?" she was looking at him like she'd never seen him before, like she was discovering him completely.

She gently removed a strand of hair from his eyes.

He couldn't find anything to say.

Ginny turned to face the lake again, their shoulders touching lightly.

"So, it's really over, isn't it?" she said in a soft murmur. "You really are... gay then?"

"Yes, well, it looks like it." It was the second time tonight Harry had acknowledged it out loud. It was a weird sensation, but it felt oddly relieving at the same time.

"How long Harry?" she turned slightly to look at him. "How long have you known?"

"A few days, I swear Ginny. I had no idea until then. I just... it's all so new to me, I can't... I can't figure out everything yet but... I'm working on it."

"But what about this morning? And this afternoon? You kissed me!" she blurted.

Her face was closer to his now. "I... I know," Harry stammered, slightly pulling back. "But I was sincerely convinced it could work between us. I never meant to lead you on, Ginny, I swear."

She considered him for a second. "I believe you, Harry." They stared at the lake in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their thoughts.

After a while, she motioned to stand right in front of him, her back to the lake again.

"So.  _Malfoy?_ " she said with a disgusted look on her face.

Harry blushed hard. "I... I'd rather not talk about that Ginny, please."

"Well, you called his name while I was kissing you so I guess you at least owe me an explanation, don't you think?"

"Right. I guess you're right. I do owe you an explanation." He took a deep breath. "I might have some... _feelings_ for him."

"Yeah, I think I noticed that," she smiled feebly. "But I'm sorry Harry, I just don't get it.  _Malfoy_ , Harry? The stupid, arrogant, ex-Death Eater bastard who's been insulting and hurting you for years and whose father has tried to kill me in my first year? Really Harry? You're seriously telling me you might have feelings for  _that_  guy?" she was staring at him in utter disbelief.

"Look. I know all that. But I also know there's probably more to him than we think." He gently stroked her cheek. "And anyway Ginny, as crazy as it seems, it's unfortunately not something I have any control on." He took her hands in his. "Honestly? If I could  _really_  choose, I would go for you in a heartbeat, because you're a lovely, beautiful, smart girl, Ginny, and my life would be so much easier if I chose you! But that's not the way it works. I unfortunately don't get to choose who I'm attracted to, no one does," Harry said, looking sorry.

She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. "Please stop Harry. It hurts too much."

"God I'm so sorry, Ginny, I never meant to hurt you." He took her in his arms and held her tight. She put her cheek on his shoulder, her nose in his neck.

They stayed like that for a while, Harry cradling her in his arms. She suddenly seemed to realise something and looked up at him. "Do you at least know if he is gay, Harry?"

"Yes. He is. He even has a boyfriend."  _Shit_. He had forgotten about that detail.

She sighed heavily. "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for," she paused, her cheek back on Harry's shoulder. "And I sincerely hope you'll be happy. Even if it has to be with Draco  _bloody_  Malfoy. You deserve it Harry."

"God, I'm so blessed to have you as a friend!" He kissed her lightly on her cheek. "Thank you Ginny."

She smiled at him again. "You're welcome." She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Harry, but I'm going to need time to get over you," she whispered.

"I know, that's alright. Take all the time you need," he replied softly, putting a light kiss on her forehead.

"It's getting cold, let's go back to the castle." He took her hand and led her away from the lake. "Oh, and Ginny?" he paused. "Could you please not tell any of this to anyone? Especially not Ron and Hermione? They don't know yet and I'd like to tell them myself."

"Of course, Harry. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

They walked back to the castle lost in thoughts.

* * *

Harry walked Ginny back to Gryffindor Tower and headed for the West Tower, trying to gather his thoughts.

She truly was an amazing girl. He had always admired her strength and marvelled at how confident a young woman she had become over the years. He felt all the more miserable not to be able to be with her like she wanted him to. He sincerely hoped she would find someone who would love her like she deserved to be loved.

He hurried back to the West Tower. He wanted to catch Ron and Hermione before dinner. He felt so grateful for them! They didn't know anything about his internal turmoil and yet, they would move heaven and earth to ensure his well-being.

Harry entered the common room. Most of the eighth years had now deserted it, preparing themselves for dinner. Ron and Hermione were still there though, probably waiting for Harry to come back, snuggled on one of the sofas near the fireplace, speaking amorously to one another and kissing tenderly, their fingers entwined. They were turning their backs to Harry and couldn't see him. An unexpected warmth formed in his chest as he was witnessing all the love that was radiating from them. God, he wished he could have something like that one day!

He cleared his throat and Ron and Hermione turned around at once.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione, standing from the sofa and throwing her arms around his neck. "Are you okay? Did you manage to find Ginny?" she asked, looking concerned. Ron had joined them near the entrance of the common room.

"Yes, I did." He turned to Ron. "And I must say your sister truly is an amazing person, Ron."

"Well, what can I say? It runs in the family!" Ron joked.

"It certainly does," Harry replied with a smile.

"So, are you and Ginny back together then?" 

Harry took a deep breath and answered honestly. "No. Ginny is a wonderful, lovely, smart girl but we won't be back together. Ever." 

Ron frowned. "I don't get it, mate. Why wouldn't you two be back together if she's... whatever you say she is?"

Harry looked at his feet and replied shyly. "Well, it's just... Ginny and I, it's just not meant to be. And please don't ask me more about all that because I can't really give you answers at the moment, okay?" 

"Right, Harry, that's fine." Hermione discreetly put a hand on her boyfriend's in an attempt to silence him. "We trust you. I'm just glad Ginny and you could still remain friends even if you can't be together as a couple." 

"God I'm so lucky to have the two of you! Thank you for being here for me." Harry hugged them hard.

"Everything's alright then? Ron said, breaking the embrace. "Cause I'm bloody starving here!" Harry and Hermione laughed heartily.  _Some things never change_ , thought Harry warmly as they left the common room together.

* * *

Right after dinner, Draco was lying on Theo's bed, shirt undone and trousers open. The frail boy was running his hands all over Draco's chest and occasionally teasing his nipples with his tongue.

Draco was staring at the ceiling, thinking about what Potter had told him earlier on. He had been truly surprised to learn that Potter was gay. It had never crossed his mind before, and he had been watching the boy for years. To his credit, Potter himself seemed not to have been aware of it until very recently. Draco marvelled at the fact that it had been the first time the two of them had had a conversation that had not been tainted with threats or anger. And it had felt pretty nice.

Draco swiftly put his left hand on Theo's head and ordered him. "Lower."

Theo obliged immediately. Draco closed his eyes as the boy pushed his trousers and boxers down and he felt the warm mouth engulfing his hard prick. "Ummm... that's it." He kept his fingers in Theo's hair, panting as the boy started sucking on him greedily.

Potter was a funny guy. True, he was annoying as hell, but Draco had always been kind of fascinated by him. Most of the time, he was fearless and headstrong. But what Draco had seen yesterday had been pretty different from what he was used to see. He had discovered Potter could be vulnerable, scared even. And that had been quite a revelation.

Draco lifted his head from the pillow and looked at the boy who was working on him. Hell, it wasn't perfect but he couldn't deny the boy was devoted to the task at hand... well, so to speak, considering what he was currently doing.

He closed his eyes once again and his mind started slowly drifting away. Pictures of a dark-haired boy with green eyes started popping up on his mind and were soon messing up with the sensations that were coming from his dick. Draco let out a low moan as his mind started picturing an aroused Potter going down on him. He opened his eyes with a start, in a desperate attempt to block those stupid images. What the hell was he doing? He certainly couldn't think of Potter in that way! True, knowing that Potter was gay had opened completely new horizons to him but Potter was good to mock, insult or fight, not... do dirty things with!

Unfortunately, a part of him didn't seem to agree with that and that part was making him unconsciously push his hips forwards in the boy's mouth. As he was closing his eyes again, he tried to focus on what Theo was doing to him. But once more, pictures of the annoying so-called hero invaded his mind. Shit. Why Potter? He wasn't even remotely attractive, was he? Ok, he was good-looking, had a rather nice smile, and his arse looked quite firm and touchable, not to mention the hard muscles of his chest or the perfectly flat stomach Draco had felt under his hands when Potter had rescued him on his broom in the Room of Requirement! But that didn't mean anyone could imagine doing things with the guy! Because that would be gross, right? Potter sucking him off was something that was resolutely and utterly wrong, wasn't it? Yeah, it was disgusting! And at the same time... well damn it, Draco couldn't help finding the whole idea incredibly arousing...

Fuck. It was hopeless to try to prevent his mind from getting where it was heading. He let out a whimper of rage and frustration. He was now too far gone to be able to stop himself from having inappropriate thoughts about the Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World at this point anymore. And Draco realised with great horror that he wasn't really doing his best to stop himself from having those thoughts and that instead, his body was responding to them desperately.

He tried once more to resist the disturbing pictures assaulting him for the sake of telling himself he had tried. He let out another loud moan as the picture of the messy-haired boy going down on him was now definitely stuck in his head. Between what the other boy was doing to him and where Draco's imagination was taking him, he couldn't hold out anymore. To make matters worse, a stupid little voice inside his head was nagging him.  _Stop denying yourself,_  it said.  _You've wanted him for years... All that rage and anger were just pitiful attempts to hide your frustration at not getting what you_ really _wanted..._

It was the end of the battle. As soon as he'd made up his mind, he was flooded with a multitude of sensations coming both from the mouth that was devotedly working on him and the pictures of a dishevelled, half-naked Potter making love to his dick. He came hard, emptying himself with a loud strangled cry in the other boy's mouth, holding him in place with his hand, the picture of Potter never leaving his mind.


	6. In deep

 

Theo was lying on his bed, resting after another intense session of lovemaking with the man he had desperately fallen in love with. Those last few days, their encounters had increased in intensity, Draco showing more passion during sex than ever before. The boy was certainly not complaining about that even if on the other hand, Draco seemed to be growing a little distant afterwards. Theo thought that maybe Draco was starting to have stronger feelings for him and that it was something that scared him in a way. Even if imagining Draco being scared of something like that was probably a bit far-fetched. Theo still couldn't suppress a smile when he thought about how lucky he was to be with Draco Malfoy.

He had never thought he would fall for him like that. They had known each other for years of course but had never been close before. Draco had always been the leader of Slytherin House, headstrong and proud, never letting anyone come in his way. Theo, on the other hand, had always been the loner, keeping to himself, never really being part of one gang or another.

It had all changed over the summer when Theo had visited Draco in Malfoy Manor. He had been completely lost when his father had disappeared after the war and Madam Malfoy had suggested he stayed for a while with them. Draco and him had taken time to discuss about all that had happened to their families, and particularly the events of the last few weeks. Those shared experiences had brought the two boys closer and had developed into the relationship they were in now.

He could hear Draco showering in his bathroom. He was always a bit disappointed by the fact that Draco never wanted to stay with him after they'd had sex. That part was great, sure, even more than great, but Theo wanted more. He wanted Draco all to himself. He wanted to spend time with him, to get to know him more and more. They had been together for over three months now but Theo realised that he didn't know much about Draco. The whole thing seemed to be very casual to him. And casual wasn't enough for Theo anymore.

Draco came out of the bathroom, a towel hanging loosely on his hips. With his hair still dripping wet, he was incredibly hot and Theo couldn't help admiring his boyfriend's body.

Draco dressed up in silence, not even glancing once at him.

"I was thinking," Theo started, "that maybe tomorrow we could go to your room for a change?"

Draco was buttoning his shirt up. "You know pretty well this is not going to happen, Theo," he scowled. His shirt done, he sat on the bed next to the boy, lacing his shoes.

"But why not?" Theo insisted, raising himself up on his elbows. "I've never been to your room, and I'd like to see what it looks like! It would only be fair since you always come here!"

"I've already told you about that Theo. Nobody ever comes to my room, not even you. Now drop it, will you?" Draco said dryly.

Theo rearranged the pillow under his head and said nothing more.

Draco quickly placed a kiss on Theo's forehead and exited the room without another word.

Theo sighed heavily, and headed for the shower.

* * *

Harry was feeling much better. He still had moments of angst and doubt and he was not completely comfortable with the whole 'being gay' thing yet but he was getting there. He had been doing a lot of thinking those last few days, allowing his mind to wander to places he had never thought it would go. He now willingly let it imagine what it would feel like to be kissing another boy and running his hands all over a body similar to his. His own body had been responding pretty well to all this thinking too.

Ginny and Draco had kept their word and apparently not told anyone, for which Harry felt really grateful. They had not interacted much those last few days though, all being pretty busy with their schoolwork. Of course, Harry was seeing Draco every day but tried very hard not to let his feelings for him overtake the whole of his thoughts. Harry knew Draco had a boyfriend and he didn't want to come between the two of them.

 _Draco_. Harry smiled. Since when had he stopped being  _Malfoy_  to him? Probably when he had had the confirmation, in his bedroom the other day, that the boy was somewhat more complex and interesting than what he let the rest of the world see.  _Draco_. Harry enunciated the two syllables out loud a few times. They felt nice in his mouth. He realised with a grin that he could easily get used to saying that name.

On that surprisingly warm Friday night of late October, he was lying on his bed, holding the Marauders' Map in his hands. He had been doing that quite a lot lately, looking for Draco at night. It felt like sixth year all over again, although the boy wasn't going to the Room of Requirement anymore, but rather seemed to be spending an awful lot of time in Nott's bedroom. It wasn't quite a surprise in itself but still kind of hurt Harry a bit. He couldn't stop imagining what the two of them were doing there and wondered what it would be like to spend time alone in a room with Draco.

If Draco spent a lot of time in his boyfriend's bedroom, he never went straight back to his own place afterwards though. Instead, he left the West Tower and headed to the Astronomy Tower where he stayed on his own for a while. Harry had been pretty surprised to find out about it the first time, after all that had happened there months ago. What could he be doing up there? It was really bugging him.

On an impulse, he got up and put his Invisibility Cloak on. No need for anyone to know he was going out even if it wasn't very late. He went down the stairs, rapidly crossed the common room where some of his friends were in deep conversation by the fireplace and headed for the Astronomy Tower. After a walk in the almost deserted corridors of the castle, he finally reached the tower. He climbed the stairs as quietly as he could and soon found himself at the top.

Draco was leaning on the railings, his back to Harry, standing at the exact same spot where Dumbledore had been killed. Harry thought about the headmaster for a fleeting moment but soon got his attention back to the boy in front of him. Once again, Harry couldn't help being fascinated by him. He took a moment to admire his lean body, taking in the view, still safely hidden under his Cloak. God, he was gorgeous.

Draco seemed to have sensed his presence. Without even turning back, he softly said, "What are you doing here, Potter?" 

Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak in a swift movement. "How did you know it was me?" 

Draco turned around slowly, facing Harry, a strange expression on his face. "Well, who else could it be?"

"I don't know... your boyfriend maybe?" Harry shrugged.

"Theo?" He seemed amused at the thought. "No. He doesn't know I come up here. Unlike you apparently," he paused, raising an eyebrow. "Have you been following me?"

"No, I haven't."

"Really? So how did you know I was there?" Draco frowned, folding his arms on his chest.

"Magic," Harry simply replied.

"I see." Draco considered Harry for a moment, then unfolded his arms and started to move towards him. He stopped pretty close to him, almost as physically close as they had been in the Charms classroom a couple of weeks before. Harry couldn't move. Once again, the proximity with the object of his affection was doing funny things to his body. He could feel the heat emanating from Draco's body and that was driving him crazy.

"Potter, why are you here?" Draco whispered.

Harry swallowed hard. "What about you? Why do you come up here every night?"

Draco smiled, looking intensely at him with his beautiful grey eyes. Harry had never seen him smile like that before. Hell, he had hardly ever seen him smile at all. Well, if Harry had found Draco good-looking before, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. He was simply gorgeous, breath-taking. Harry was transfixed.

"Have you been stalking me, Potter?" He looked deep in his eyes, leaning slightly closer. "And by the way, I've asked you first."

Harry could hardly breathe now. He was afraid his body would fail him at some point and that he would collapse in Draco's arms. Which, if you thought about it, was maybe not such a bad thing after all.

"I- I was just being curious," he said in a breath.

"Oh, I see," Draco replied, eyes narrowed, as if looking for something.

He slowly pulled away and walked back to the railings and rested both his hands on them, once again turning his back on him. Harry let out a breath and relaxed a little.

"I wouldn't have killed him," Draco stated softly, as if talking to himself.

"I know. You had lowered your wand."

Draco turned again to face him, a genuine look of surprise on his face. "How... how do you know? I've never told anyone."

"I was there. I saw the whole scene, I was hiding right there." He pointed the place where Dumbledore had forced him to stay silent and hidden from view.

"You were there? The whole time?"

Harry nodded slowly.

"Shit," he simply said, looking down at the floor.

Harry walked the few steps separating him from the boy and told him in a gentle tone, "Malfoy, it's all right. I know you wouldn't have killed him. Dumbledore knew it too, and that's why he had made this deal with Snape."

Draco kept his head down, unwilling to look into Harry's eyes. "He... he tried to help me... I was there to kill him and he still tried to help me," he whispered, a tear silently running down his cheek. 

Harry had never seen him so vulnerable. "Draco... you were sixteen..."

Then, without thinking, he cupped Draco's chin in his hand and brushed the tear away with his thumb. Draco looked up and stared at him intensely for a while. Then, eyes still locked on Harry's, he slightly turned his head and put a light kiss on the other boy's hand. Harry felt goose bumps forming instantly on his arm. He gently slid his hand to the back of Draco's neck, slowly caressing his hair at the nape of his neck. Draco shivered at the soft touch, their eyes never leaving each other's. Draco hesitantly leant forward and Harry closed his eyes. He felt Draco's soft lips gently brushing his.  _Oh dear God._ That was it. He was kissing a boy. And not just any boy, he was kissing _Draco Malfoy_. He felt a thrill run down his spine as he finally was where he had craved to be for weeks. Harry hastily silenced the voice in his head that was reminding him that Draco had a boyfriend.

The kiss was gentle at first. Their lips were slowly moving together and Harry let out a soft moan. Then he slightly opened his mouth and their tongues tentatively touched for the first time.  _Oh fuck, yes._ Draco was cupping the back of Harry's head in his hand, his other hand resting on his waist, keeping him close. The kiss rapidly became more urgent, and Harry slid both his hands down, hungrily feeling the muscles and hard lines of Draco's back. God, he had never felt anything so good!

After a while, Harry reluctantly broke the kiss, their foreheads touching. "Wait," he said heavily breathing, looking around, "Not here." Draco nodded his agreement and hastily took his hand.

They hurriedly ran down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower and after checking no one was in view, went down the corridor, holding hands the whole time. They found an empty classroom, went in and locked it hastily.

They started kissing again passionately. Things were rapidly heating up now, and Draco pulled away to focus his attention on Harry's neck. Harry slid both of his hands in Draco's silky hair. God, he had never been so aroused in his life! He unconsciously pressed his body against Draco's, feeling the incredible heat emanating from the other boy.

Draco slowly pushed Harry backwards, shoving him into the nearest wall, and Harry felt his head spin slightly at the sensation of being at the mercy of the other boy. Draco was now stealing under Harry's tee-shirt, caressing the soft skin beneath while working on his mouth passionately. Harry thought he was going to lose it when he felt Draco applying pressure on his body and he could feel the other's boy obvious arousal rubbing against his.

They were frantically moving together now, rubbing hard against each other's body and Draco finally placed one hand on Harry's hardness. Oh fuck! Harry was now panting heavily, his eyes rolling up in his head as he felt long fingers deftly open his trousers and pausing briefly at the waistband of his boxers. "Oh  _Merlin_ , Draco, yes!" Draco didn't need to be told twice. He pulled Harry's boxers down, grabbed his thick cock and started stroking him rapidly. Draco's cheeks were flushed with arousal. God, he was so beautiful! Harry could hardly get over the fact that for the very first time in his life, another person was touching him  _there,_ and the fact that this person was a boy he had wanted so bad seemed to be driving him even more crazy; he had been denying himself for so long! He couldn't hold it any longer and came copiously in Draco's hand with a strangled cry, thrusting hard in the other boy's hand.

Draco seemed unable to hold back any longer, and he undid his trousers and pants promptly before taking himself in hand, pumping fast on his own dick. Harry watched in fascination as Draco came hard between them, grunting loudly.

He quickly reached for his wand and cast a cleaning spell on them both while Draco was panting heavily, his forehead resting on the wall near Harry.

They dressed again in silence. Draco looked at him for a second, as if wanting to say something but seemed to think better of it and unlocked the door.

He left the room without saying another word.

 _What did you expect?_  Harry's inner voice was telling him.  _He's Draco Malfoy._  Harry sighed heavily, reached for his Invisibility Cloak and left the room.


	7. Aftermath

Shit, Draco was fucked! What the hell had he just done? He had let his guard down and had fallen right into Potter's arms. How could  _that_  have happened?

He was pacing his room, anxiously running a hand in his hair.

He thought again about what had just happened with the boy. God, he had never thought, never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that Potter would one day want him like that! And the problem was, Draco had wanted him for so long that it had been impossible for him to resist the bloody Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World.

The whole thing had been incredible. The cute way Potter had blushed and moaned when Draco had started touching him... and how he had looked completely abandoned and vulnerable when he had come, hell when  _Draco_  had made him come! God, he was getting hard again at the thought! But what had touched him the most had been the way Potter had been looking at him, comforting him, hell, even finding excuses for what he had done! His touch had been so soft, so gentle! Nobody had ever looked at him with such reverence before and Draco certainly wasn't used to it.  _Draco_. He had nearly jumped when he had heard Potter calling him by his first name. It had felt so soft, so full of respect, so intimate...

Shit, he had to stop the whole thing. He couldn't let himself fall for anyone like that, especially not Potter! He had to keep his emotions under control or he could lose everything and end up getting hurt. His relationship with Theo was perfect in that regard. Draco had absolutely no feelings for the boy, it was all just physical. And that was why he had allowed it to last that long. If ever there were to be more at one point, Draco would end it straight away, like he had always done.

Right, that's what he would do. He would change nothing. He would go on with Theo because it was nice and simple, and because it allowed him to have sex on a regular basis - which was quite enjoyable at their age - and he would stay away from Potter as much as he could. Yes, that's what he was going to do. Finally relieved with the decision he had just made, he got himself ready for bed and fell asleep with the picture of a messy-haired boy with bright green eyes on his mind.

* * *

Harry couldn't believe it. He had done it! He had been with a boy! And it had felt amazing, not at all scary like he had thought. God, the way they had looked at each other, the way they had touched and the way the hard body had felt under his fingers! All of that had been wonderful. And the fact that the boy in question had been Draco Malfoy, well, that was the icing on the cake, even if in the grand scheme of things it sounded a little crazy.

God, he couldn't wait to get more! He wanted Draco so bad it hurt. He wanted to kiss him again, to taste him again, to run his hands and his tongue all over his lithe body. He wanted it all.

However, he had to be prudent. He was dealing with Draco Malfoy after all and things had never been simple with Draco. Harry knew he was very complex, and probably a little insecure too, behind all the facade bravado. Yes, he would have to be careful. The way Draco had left without a word had shown him that things might not be as easy as he thought, even if he tried not to think too much about it.

Well, that was it. He wouldn't rush things. He would wait and see how Draco would interact with him and wouldn't initiate anything. He would let Draco come to him. Harry certainly didn't want to do anything to scare him away.

He went to bed quickly, still smiling when sleep claimed him.

* * *

Theo was determined to have a discussion with Draco.

He had to tell him about the way he felt and what he expected of him. They had been together for almost four months now and he wanted more.

They were always doing things Draco's way. To be honest, Theo had never complained about anything. He had always complied with whatever Draco had wanted. They made love the way Draco wanted to. And Draco would never bottom with him. Draco liked taking Theo, he liked to be the Alpha Male, the dominant one. He would never ask him what he would like to do. Theo had once asked Draco to switch roles. The boy had looked at him with narrow eyes and left without a word, leaving Theo in desperate need. Bastard! The problem was that Theo had fallen in love with the bastard. Hard. And he definitely had to do something about it.

He would talk to Draco tonight. He would go and try to talk some sense into him. That wouldn't be easy, but if Draco liked him enough, he would accept it. Anyway, that was a take it or leave it situation. He knew there was a risk of freaking him out. But if it worked, it could be really good. He had to give it a try.

Yes, that's what he would do.

Tonight.

* * *

"Bloody hell!" Draco growled as he entered the eighth year common room after Herbology class. Why did they have to be outside when it was so fricking cold anyway? The air had turned so ridiculously chilly! Draco cursed again. He had trouble getting himself warm and felt really grateful for the blazing fireplace of the common room.

The temperature of that late October day wasn't his main concern at the moment though. A certain Gryffindor boy was.

He had been trying very hard all day not to let himself disturbed by ridiculous thoughts, but unfortunately, it had been almost impossible to achieve. For one thing, Potter was everywhere Draco was: for breakfast, during lessons, for lunch, every time Draco looked up, the boy was there, like he was teasing him on purpose, simply by being in the same room.

Consequently, it had been very hard for him to concentrate. Every time he caught a glimpse at the boy, images of the look he had had on his face when he had come in the empty classroom popped up in Draco's mind, and it was utterly distracting. Shit. It made him feel like a stupid fifteen year old enamoured girl with an even more stupid crush.

Now that classes were over, he had to do something to suppress those disturbing thoughts. He had to go and see Theo, shag him into the mattress and erase the memories of an aroused Potter from his mind. That's it, Draco. Stick to the plan.

He hurriedly went up the stairs and barged into his boyfriend's bedroom. The boy was working on his desk, and jumped slightly at Draco's intrusion, but still welcomed him with a smile on his lips. "Great minds think alike!" said the boy. "I was about to go and look for you," he said, putting down the quill he was holding on his desk.

Draco's eyes narrowed. Since when had the boy had to come and fetch him? "Why, what do you want?" he asked suspiciously.

Theo came to him and stroked his cheek. "Well... I'd like to talk," Theo said prudently.

 _Talk_? The boy must be kidding him! What did he want to talk about? They had barely had a whole conversation in the four months they had been together!

"I didn't come here to talk," Draco said dryly, removing the boy's hand from his cheek.

"But-" Draco's mouth was on his before he could utter another word. He started urgently kissing him, making him lose his balance slightly. Draco was snogging him like his life depended on it, forcing his way into the other boy's mouth, holding him hard, before strongly pushing him to his bed.

"Wait, Draco!" Theo managed to say in between kisses, but Draco ignored him.

He started running his hands all over the boy's frail body while his mouth worked on his, and soon his left hand was heading to the boy's crotch. Draco then started unbuckling his belt but he didn't go far. Something didn't feel quite right. He couldn't do it. He couldn't manage to get into the mood. For crying out loud, what was wrong with him? He tried once again to remain focused on his fellow Slytherin, but he couldn't help thinking about the way he had felt with Potter the night before. To be perfectly honest, what he was currently doing wasn't feeling remotely as good as what he had experienced with the  _bloody_  Boy-Who-Lived.

Shit.

He stopped dead in his tracks and stood up at once. He didn't want this. It felt too... awkward. However hard Draco tried -and God, did he try!- he couldn't stop thinking about the stupid Gryffindor. What he was currently doing paled in comparison to the arousal and utter excitement he had felt in the empty classroom the night before. Shit, why was he even comparing? And since when did thoughts like that prevent him to get laid? Hell, he had been perfectly happy with what he had been doing with Theo those last few months! Why did the bloody Scarhead keep invading his mind like that?

He wiped his mouth quickly, looking at the boy sprawled on the bed sporting a puzzled look on his face. Theo quickly got up and came to place his hands on Draco's waist, looking into his eyes.

"What's wrong, Draco?" Draco looked at him intensely for a while. He certainly didn't want to answer the question. He chose to change the subject instead, pushing the boy's hands away from him, and heading to the door deep in thoughts before finally leaning on it and crossing his arms.

"Well, you wanted to talk. I'm listening."

Theo seemed taken aback by Draco's sudden change of mind but didn't act on it. He considered him for a while and finally said, "Okay."

Draco felt slightly relieved. He would listen to whatever the boy had to tell him and then, they would have their fun. Hopefully, by the time they got there, Draco would have been distracted enough to stop thinking about Potter.

Theo took a deep breath. "Right, there's something I had meant to tell you for a long time, but it's- it's not really easy so..."

"Straight to the point, Theo," Draco interrupted him impatiently.

"Right. Draco, I- I like you,  _a lot_ , and, I'd really like it if we could spend more time together," he said hesitantly, his eyes on the floor.

 _Fuck_. "What?" Draco said. "What for?" he frowned.

"Well, you know, so that we could get to know each other a little better?" Theo said, raising an eyebrow.

"We spend enough time together already, don't you think?" 

"Well, yes, but we don't talk much-"

"Well, we are talking now..." he snapped, slightly annoyed.

"Yes, but, I mean... we don't talk much the rest of the time, so-"

"So? What's wrong with that?" 

"Nothing's wrong... I mean, it's great, it's just that..." he came closer to Draco and started playing with his tie. "I'd like to know more about you," he leant over to kiss him but Draco moved away from him swiftly and went to sit on the bed before Theo could do anything.

"What do you mean exactly?" 

Theo turned around to face him again and took a deep breath. "I want us to be in a real relationship...I'm..." he hesitated and finally said, "I think I'm in love with you. And I want you Draco. I want to get to know you, I want to do stuff with you outside of this room. I'm not asking you to hold hands in public or tell your father I'm your boyfriend, I'm not that stupid. But I want more than just a quick daily shag. I want to really be with you."

Draco was speechless. What the hell was all that crap about? Getting to know him? Doing stuff outside of the bedroom? Being in a  _relationship?_  

"Are you out of your fricking mind? What the hell is this all about? What are you going to tell me next? That you want to marry me and have my kids?" he spat angrily.

"Draco," Theo replied quietly. "We've been together for almost four months and I thought it was time we took our relationship to the next level, but apparently this is not what you want." 

"Theo," Draco closed his eyes for a while, joining his hands together in front of his mouth. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. "I am not in love with you, I never was and I never will be. I thought you knew that and that what we had, a quick daily shag like you said, was what you wanted too. I never meant for you to fall in love with me, whatever the hell that means anyway." He stood up. "I'd rather put an end to it all now. It's over, Theo."

"No! Draco, I'm- okay, we'll do whatever you want! We can go on like that, that's fine, I'll manage! But please don't say it's over!"

Draco looked at the pleading boy contemptuously for a second, then opened the door and left the room without another word, leaving Theo speechless.

Shit, it really had been a crappy day.


	8. Deal

One week.

It had been one week since his tryst with Potter in the empty classroom. One week since Draco had been intimate with the boy, had made him come and since then, nothing.

Potter hadn't come back for more. Worse, Potter had been utterly ignoring him, like absolutely nothing had happened between them. Not a word, not even a look, nothing. And he had never come back to the Astronomy Tower either. Draco had kind of expected him to but no, he hadn't.

It annoyed Draco. A lot. He wasn't used to such indifference. He was used to people wanting more, begging him for more. He usually was the one who played indifferent. What was wrong with him? Had he lost his touch? Hell, Potter had seemed to really have appreciated what Draco had done to him!

To make matters worse, it had also been one week since his break-up with Theo, which meant he had not had sex in a week. God, he had to wank all the time, for fear his balls would otherwise explode. And worst of all, each time he had been indulging in sexual activities with his left hand, he had been thinking about Potter.

God, he had wanted the boy for so long that now he had had a taste of it, he craved for more! It was driving him crazy. He had to do something. He had to see if he still had some power over Potter. He had to go and see the boy. Like right now. God, was he  _that_  desperate? Yes, he thought, leaving his room, he was. He really was that desperate.

* * *

Draco hurriedly went down to the common room. Potter was there, having a good laugh with some friends by the fireplace. Shit. Dumbly, he had expected the boy to be on his own. That wasn't going to be easy. Potter was sitting on the floor by the sofa, laughing his head off at whatever Finnigan had just said. God, he hated the guy! Draco came closer, standing right behind Longbottom and Thomas, and facing Potter.

Potter looked at him quietly and asked, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

Back to last names again then.

He felt Longbottom tense at the mention of his name and remembered what Potter had told him. He briefly considered making fun of the guy but thought better. He didn't have time for that right now.

"A word with you?" Draco replied, never lowering his gaze.

"Well... can't it wait? I'm kind of busy right now as you can see."

He heard Finnigan's smirk but ignored it. God, that was torture. Was Potter doing it on purpose?

"I'm afraid it can't," he replied patiently.

Potter sighed. "Fine, I'm coming," he said, reluctantly getting up.

"Wait, Harry! You don't have to go! You don't owe him anything, mate! Why don't you tell him to bugger off and just stay with us?" he added bluntly, looking defiantly at him. Draco swallowed hard, biting back a retort.  _Don't pay attention to him, focus on Potter_ , he was nervously reminding himself.

"Nah, that's alright Seamus, I won't be long," Potter finally said.

Draco let out a sigh of relief and they both left the common room, Potter soon leading him up the stairs to his room. He swiftly opened the door and invited Draco in before locking the door and turning to face him.

"What do you want?" 

God, he was hot! Draco couldn't hold it any longer. Without thinking, he walked the few steps separating him from the other boy and shoved him into the door, grabbing the collar of his shirt with his hands and crushing their mouths together.

He felt Potter resist for a second and then the boy started kissing him back. Oh dear God! The boy was running his hands all over his body again, sending jolts of electricity everywhere. Draco let out a whimper. They kissed intensely for a while, rediscovering the other's body and moaning loudly. Soon Draco left Potter's mouth to kiss his jawline and the back of his neck. The sounds escaping Potter's mouth at his touch set him on fire as he was thoroughly enjoying the scent and taste of the other boy on his tongue. He started deftly unbuttoning Potter's shirt and it fell to the ground with a swish. Draco took a step back to admire the boy's chest.

Potter was stunning. His face was flushed, his hair ruffled and he looked ruggedly handsome. He had a perfectly toned chest, with well-defined muscles. Years of Quidditch had certainly done good to his body. Draco swiftly moved closer and started lightly kissing Potter's skin, at first slowly, then more passionately, soon running his tongue over all the curves and indents of the boy's muscular torso. Potter closed his eyes, threw his head back and ran his hands in Draco's hair, holding him in place. He let out a low moan, as well as a "God, Draco," when Draco started teasing his nipples. The way Potter had said his name made him shudder.

Soon Potter was bringing Draco up, grabbing his collar, unbuttoning his shirt and started to remove it. He stopped dead and suddenly looked into his eyes. Draco knew exactly what Potter was thinking at that moment and nodded with a heavy sigh. When he finally let the shirt fall to the floor along with his own, Potter grabbed Draco's left forearm carefully in his hand and looked at him for a confirmation that he was okay about this. Draco bit his lower lip nervously, before slowly nodding his assent. Potter then brought Draco's arm closer up and took a good look at his Dark Mark.

"I- I don't know what to say," Draco said sheepishly, looking down at the floor. This ugly mark was the reminder of all the terrible things he had done, all the wrong choices he had made, and he suddenly panicked at the thought that Potter would change his mind, or rather come to his senses and reject him like he had always done before. He was starting having trouble breathing normally when he felt Potter's hand on his face, gently caressing him, forcing him to look back up in his eyes.

"That's fine, you don't have to say anything for now," he said, looking intensely into Draco's eyes now. "That was then, and this is now. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it later on."

He then brought Draco's hands to his mouth and gently placed a kiss on each of them. Then he put both hands on Draco's neck, sliding them to cup the back of his head and reached his mouth, kissing him fiercely. Draco let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, soon getting lost in the boy's embrace again.

They were now skin to skin, both naked to the waist, snogging more passionately than ever, running their hands all over the other's body, hungrily cupping each other's arses, moaning and gasping loudly.

To Draco's surprise, Potter suddenly pushed him backwards, motioning him to the bed, never breaking the kisses. He had never thought the boy would be so bold as to initiate something like that. But he certainly wasn't complaining, nope, not at all! He loved Potter's rough handling. He climbed onto the bed, pulling the boy with him. He removed Potter's glasses, sending them farther away on the bed. The two boys were now panting heavily, Potter still on top of Draco, now shamelessly rutting against him.

"Well, aren't we a little impatient?" Draco smirked.

"I've, oh God, waited long enough!" 

To make his point clear, Potter grabbed his mouth in another deep kiss. Draco could feel the boy's erection forcefully pressing against his own and he wildly started rocking his hips up against him.

After a while, Draco pushed Potter back fiercely, sending him sprawling onto his back on the bed. With Draco on top of him, straddling his legs, Potter seemed more vulnerable than ever. Draco was now pinning him to the bed, looking at him deeply. "Mmmm... that's better," Draco whispered, his lust-filled eyes never leaving Potter's. The boy tried to wriggle out of his embrace but to no avail.

"Bastard!" he said with a wicked grin.

"Hey, you know me," Draco replied with a smirk. He then managed to put Potter's hands together above the boy's head on the bed, holding them firmly in place with his left hand, his right hand lightly tracing invisible lines on the boy's body, making him shiver.

"Merlin, Draco!" 

"You like that?"

"What do you think, you prat? Of course I do!" Potter replied playfully.

Draco smiled. Encouraged by the boy's words, he released his hands and started tracing kisses all over his chest again, running his hands and tongue on the more sensitive areas of the boy's soft skin who was now writhing desperately under him, his hands on Draco's shoulders. He then started kissing him lower, his fingers finding their way to Potter's belt. He looked up at him, waiting for his consent. The boy nodded, nervously biting his bottom lip as Draco proceeded to open his trousers.

Draco couldn't believe he was there, on Harry Potter's bed, about to undress him completely, the boy at his total mercy. Harry hastily took off his shoes while Draco removed the rest of his clothes. He took time to admire the beautiful body under him, his eyes stopping on the boy's bits. Draco was breathless. Potter's cock wasn't much longer than his own, but it was way thicker. God, he wanted to taste it so bad! He felt Potter's hand suddenly grab his wrist.

"Draco...", he said, panting heavily, "I- I've never done anything like that before... I- please take it slow." 

Draco looked into those intense green eyes for a moment and murmured, "Right, don't worry. I won't... force you to do anything you don't want me to, okay? Just let me know if you want me to stop," he softly replied, hoping desperately that Potter wouldn't. The boy bit his lower lip again and nodded.

Draco stood up and quickly took his clothes off and he was soon as naked as Potter. The boy had raised himself on his elbows and was admiring him. "God, you're beautiful!" he whispered reverently. Draco kneeled on the bed and took his mouth in a long, slow kiss, gently caressing his jaw with his right hand, feeling the warm body underneath him and pushing him back down. He put a kiss on his neck, then on his chest, kissing his way down towards the boy's cock. Draco felt him twitch under him as he let his breath hover over Potter's erection.

He flicked his tongue up the length of Potter's dick, tasting him for the first time. The touch elicited a long moan from the boy. Draco started reverently licking the shaft a few times from bottom to top with the tip of his tongue. He then delicately licked the head of Potter's cock, tasting him further before swallowing him fully in his mouth, Potter this time letting out a gorgeous cry. The boy was in total ecstasy and started squirming on the bed.

God! Draco was enjoying it as much as Potter seemed to be enjoying his ministrations. He was soon licking and sucking Potter's fat cock restlessly, bobbing his head up and down frantically, swallowing him fully and utterly enjoying the other boy's taste and reactions. Potter was raising his hips furiously now and Draco had to hold him down with his hands to steady him. Draco suddenly felt a hand on his head, threading fingers in his hair, keeping him down, and he knew the boy was close.

"God, Draco, I'm...I'm...  _fuck_!"

Draco sucked him harder, swallowing him whole as Potter came hard inside his mouth, thrusting violently upwards and crying his name over and over again in a broken voice. He then lay completely still on the bed, eyes closed, chest heaving, completely consumed.

Draco savoured the boy's taste on his tongue for a moment before gently kissing his stomach, chest and neck. He was soon lying down next to him, his hard cock pressed on Potter's thigh, moving on its own accord against it, smearing pre-come all over the boy's leg. He was about to grab it to finish himself off when to his surprise, he felt Potter's hand encircling his hardness. Oh God. The boy started stroking him rapidly, a huge satisfied grin on his face as Draco groaned, "Oh,  _Potter!_ " Potter was looking at him intensely now, deeply focused on what he was doing. God, it was good, hell, it was beyond good, it was amazing! Draco couldn't believe he was there, in bed with none other than Harry Potter, the boy who had been his enemy for years, the boy he had mocked and hurt all these years in a desperate attempt to bury the feelings he really had for him deep inside.

Draco quickly changed positions, sitting on top of Potter and straddling his hips, granting him better access to his dick. The boy was looking in his eyes all the time, jerking him off hard now, and Draco was thrusting violently in his hand. Then, without much of a warning, he came copiously all over Potter's chest in long hard thrusts, moaning loudly. Fucking hell! He closed his eyes and crumbled on top of him. They remained like that for a while, in each other's arms, slowly catching their breath.

"God, Draco, that was amazing!" he said, gently playing with Draco's hair.

"Mmmm... yeah, that was pretty brilliant." Potter moved away from Draco's embrace to retrieve his wand and cast a cleansing charm on them. He then put the wand away and lay back into Draco's arms.

Draco was slowly dozing off when Potter looked at him with a funny expression on his face and asked. "So, not running away this time?"

Draco propped himself up on his elbow, frowning. "What, you already want me to leave?"

The boy smiled and answered with a wink, tracing invisible lines on Draco's chest with his fingers, "Nah, that's fine, you can stay."

"Good," Draco replied, kissing him lightly on the mouth, lying back down and closing his eyes again.

"Can I ask you something?" Potter blurted again.

"Mmmm?"

"What about Theo?" 

"What about him?" 

"Well, I'm not completely comfortable with us doing stuff behind your boyfriend's back."

"Mmmm those famous Gryffindors' morals." Draco sneered and jumped when the boy pinched him hard on the shoulder.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Draco asked indignantly, rubbing his shoulder.

"Making fun of me," Potter replied cheekily. "So, about Theo?"

"Don't worry, your morals are safe, Potter. I broke up with him right after our little encounter the other night, satisfied?"

The boy had a huge grin on his face. "Yes, that's great! I mean, not for him but then..." he seemed to think about something and said again. "How long had you two been together?"

"Potter, are you not going to let me rest?" Draco groaned.

"Well, apparently not," Potter replied with a smirk.

Draco rolled his eyes and sat impatiently. "Alright. Here's what I suggest. You let me recover for a while and then we go back down before your friends start freaking out and worrying I have kidnapped or killed you, and  _then_ ," he silenced the boy who was about to protest by pressing a finger to his lips, "then we meet again here tomorrow after class for example, and I'll answer all of your questions. Does that sound acceptable to you?" he removed his finger from Potter's mouth and replaced it by a soft kiss.

"Fine, but you will answer my questions, right?"

"All of them. Satisfied?" Potter nodded and Draco lay back down. Potter moved him slightly to grab the sheets and cover them both. He then snuggled against him, a content look on his face.


	9. Small confessions

Harry was terribly impatient to spend time with Draco again and he couldn't wait to ask him all the questions he wanted to. Unfortunately, the day seemed to be dragging on endlessly. It was very hard for him to focus on whatever the teachers were saying when so much was going on in his head.

Exceptionally, Hermione had not tried to talk Harry into another study session after their classes, which he had found quite unusual. It was funny since Ron wasn't exactly his usual self either. Every time they were together, it felt as if his best mate wanted to tell him something but backed down on it at the last minute.

Finally, Ron seemed to have screwed up some courage and, as they were heading back to the West Tower after their classes, he stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to Harry, looking ill at ease.

"Er, Harry, mate, would it bother you… I mean, would you mind terribly if… you know, if I let you work on your own for tonight?" he asked sheepishly, blushing slightly.

Harry was a bit puzzled by his demand, since they had always done their homework together, but answered nonetheless. "No, that's fine, mate, do you have… other plans?" he asked, a bit curious as to why his best friend wouldn't want to study with him like they normally would.

"I, er… yeah, I mean, there's this…  _thing_  I haven't really quite grabbed… in, in class, I mean," he was blushing furiously now, "and Hermione… well, she… she proposed explaining it to me earlier on, so…"

Harry suddenly understood what it was all about and tried very hard not to laugh at his best friend's pathetic excuses. "Oh, I see! And what is it exactly that you need her to explain to you?" he tried to remain casual, but that was very hard, since Ron was now as red as his hair.

"I… well… it's… well, I don't remember  _precisely_ , but Hermione said that I really needed tutoring on this one so-"

"That's fine, I get it, Ron. Now go! I have planned to  _study_  myself as well anyway," Harry declared with a smile, wishing to put an end to his friend's discomfort.

"Thanks, mate!" Ron said as he was going away.

Harry was still smiling when he met Draco in front of the portrait of the Silver Knight. They had about an hour before dinner time. Since they didn't want anybody to know about them yet, they had had to think of a simple way for Draco to join Harry in his bedroom unnoticed. So the day before, they had contemplated different possibilities, (as a matter of fact, Harry had been utterly impressed by the cunning of some of the Slytherin's ideas), before settling on using Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

Harry had been a bit reluctant at first; the Cloak was his dearest possession after all. It had belonged to his father and was a very ancient piece of magic. In the back of his mind, a little voice was nagging him over the fact that it probably wasn't a really reasonable idea to lend something as unique and priceless to your long-term former enemy, a Slytherin, at that. But his instinct told him to go for it, to trust Draco with it, and so he did, and felt completely at peace about it.

Draco let out a low whistle when he took his first look at the Cloak. He snatched it from Harry's hands, but immediately curbed his enthusiasm, realising he probably should show a little bit more of self-control. He muttered a "wow, this is something!" that could pass as an apology, and stroked the fabric in his fingers with more reverence. He then started playing with it, having good fun at hiding different parts of himself, and of Harry, a childish grin on his face, making Harry laugh heartily. Even though he was reluctant to admit it, since the idea hadn't been his in the first place, Draco agreed that the Cloak would be perfect for their meet ups.

The plan was simple, really: Harry first had to go to his room to get the Cloak. He would then wait until nobody was around before discretely stashing it in a tiny cavity they had discovered behind the statue of Godfric-the-Brave for Draco to retrieve it. Harry would then go back to his room and wait for Draco to arrive.

So that's exactly what they did. While Harry was waiting for Draco, he hastily made his bed and tried to tidy his room up a bit. He knew Draco didn't like mess very much, so he picked up the clothes that were scattered on the floor and on his desk and put them away in the hamper in the bathroom.

He was scanning his room to try and see what could still be improved when he felt two hands on his waist. "Boo!" he jumped a mile both at the touch and at the sound Draco had made.

"Prat," he said in a dry tone, while Draco swiftly removed the Cloak and threw it on the chair.

"I'll take it as a compliment, Potter!" Draco looked pretty pleased with himself and Harry couldn't help laughing at the silly expression on his face.

Draco took him in his arms and kissed him hard. God, Harry could never have enough of the sweet taste of the boy! He closed his eyes when Draco started delicately trailing kisses onto his neck. "Mmmm... I know that you want to talk today, Potter, but... you're sure you don't want to skip the questions part?" Draco asked seductively. "Cause I'd love to do all kinds of dirty things to you right now," he said, groping Harry's backside suggestively.

Harry shivered at the thought. He opened his eyes and sent his arms around Draco's neck. "No," he finally replied with a smile. "We made a deal, Draco, and I want my answers."

"You're really sure about that?" The git had managed to take Harry's shirt out of his trousers and was now running his hands all over the soft skin of his back, pressing himself hard against him. Harry let out a soft cry, closing his eyes again. "Because, I could answer your questions after we'd had our fun, if you'd only let me," he whispered in his ear, scraping his earlobe with his teeth.

It took quite a large amount of willpower for Harry not to surrender to Draco's assaults. He managed to stand firm and pushed him back, his hands pressed firmly on the boy's chest. "Hey, you're not playing fair! You promised me, you bloody manipulative Slytherin!" he said with a smirk.

Draco gave up and sighed. "You're no fun," he said pouting while climbing onto Harry's bed.

Harry joined the boy and snuggled up against him. Draco moved slightly away from him, crossing his arms and shifting his gaze, a sullen look on his face. God, he was so cute! Harry couldn't help but laugh at him, and slid his arm under Draco's tenderly.

Draco rolled his eyes and kissed him quickly. "Right, Potter, what's your first question?" 

Harry looked at him, took a deep breath and started. "Right, okay. How long have you been with Theo?"

"Really Potter? That's the best you can do? You don't have anything more interesting to ask me?"

"Oh come on, Draco," Harry pleaded.

"Fine. Three or four months I think." 

"Really? That's quite long!" Harry felt a pang of jealousy but went on. "How did the two of you get together?"

"He came to see us at the Manor this summer. His father had been taken away right after the war and he didn't really know what had happened to him. He wanted to see Father to know if he had heard about anything. Father hadn't but Mother felt kind of sorry for him so she invited him to stay with us for a while. In the end, we learned that his father had been interrogated by the Ministry but since he hadn't joined the Dark Lord after what had happened in the Department of Mysteries, they had released him. Anyway, in the meantime, he and I got to know each other a little better and then, one thing leading to another... "

"Yeah, yeah I get it" Harry said wincing, not wanting to imagine what Draco had done with the other boy.

"Oh, but you're sure you don't want to know all the juicy details?" Draco teased, looking delighted at Potter's reaction.

"No thanks, I'm not interested," Harry replied dryly.

"Jealous?" Draco said again with a satisfied grin. "I like that!" he tried to kiss Harry but he turned his head away sulkily.

"Prick!" Harry quipped. Draco laughed again. Harry ignored him and tried to focus on his next question. "Did you know before he... was gay?"

"Well, not really," Draco paused. "I hadn't really paid attention to him up till then. But sometimes you don't need to know before. You can see it in the other boy's eyes, or the way he behaves around you." 

"So that's how you knew? You kind of guessed?"

"Yes, I think you can put it like that."

"Was he your first boyfriend?" Harry continued, secretly hoping it had been the case.

"Theo? No, I've had a few other boyfriends before." Draco answered evasively. Shit. He sure was more experienced in that field than himself.

"Really? How many boyfriends have you had?" Harry wanted to know more. He was utterly intrigued by the boy's laid-back approach concerning his sexuality. Draco had obviously figured things out for himself much sooner than Harry had.

"I don't know, I didn't really count them you know, I don't keep tabs on who I went out with!" Draco chuckled.

"Well, I can count mine and that's pretty easy. You must have had lots then." He suddenly felt embarrassed at his lack of experience compared to Draco.

"Well, not  _lots_. What do you take me for, Potter?" 

"No, it's just that... we're the same age and I've only just managed to kiss two girls before you, so..."

"Well, you haven't exactly been doing nothing all those years... you've been quite busy chasing baddies and killing the most powerful Dark Wizard of the last fifty years, you didn't exactly have time to think about anything else besides that I guess..."

Harry looked at him with a curious look on his face. He couldn't help thinking about what Draco had himself been up to during that time, and particularly in the last couple of years, when he had been involved in very illicit and utterly dangerous activities.

"True. But how come I never found out about you before?"

"Well, you and I weren't exactly close to one another all those years, right?" Draco said with a weak smile, reaching for Harry's fingers and entwining them with his. "And by the way, you didn't even figure it out for yourself until a few weeks ago, so how were you supposed to know about anybody else?" he added.

"Right," sighed Harry, thinking of all that had happened between them all those years. His face dropped as he suddenly remembered something. Something that had haunted him long after it had happened. Something he still felt thoroughly ashamed of. "God, Draco, I'm so sorry..."

"What? Why?" Draco frowned, slightly puzzled at the boy's sudden change of mood.

"For... you know... when I... when I hit you with the... Sectumsempra spell in the bathroom back in sixth year... I didn't... I didn't know what it was, I swear. I would never have done it to you if I'd known what it would do beforehand!" Harry said, feeling utterly guilty.

Draco looked at him intensely and finally said, "I know. And don't apologise for it. If you hadn't done it, I would have crucioed you, and that would have been even worse," he seemed to think about something, "and by the way," Draco added, "I broke your nose and you saved my life twice... so I'd say we're even, Potter," he said very seriously.

Harry looked deep into Draco's grey eyes for a while. There was something else he had wanted to know for a long time but he wasn't quite sure about the way Draco would react. After pondering that for a while though, he decided to give it a go and murmured, "Could you... tell me about your Dark Mark?"

Draco shut down instantly.  _Shit,_ Harry thought. "I- don't really want to talk about that tonight," he replied sternly, slightly backing away.

"Well, you said you would answer all my questions so..."

"I said not tonight," Draco snapped, "now don't push me, Potter, or I'll go," he added menacingly, an edge to his voice.

Harry considered him for a while and made up his mind pretty quickly, knowing the boy could blow up in his face on the first occasion. "Fine," he said sheepishly and Draco seemed to relax a bit.

Harry tried to think of something else to say. There were millions of questions he wanted to ask Draco, about his family, his childhood, what had happened to him when Voldemort had taken residence at the Manor, but he felt he might not completely be ready for that either. So he opted for something different. There was something he had wanted to ask after what they had done the day before, when Draco had, well,  _gone down_  on him, something he had been thinking about in his bed last night. He went for it, deciding that sex was a safer topic with Draco anyway.

"How is it to... do what you did to me yesterday?" he asked timidly, fixing a crack on the opposite wall, avoiding Draco's eyes this time.

"Oh! Your mind certainly changes tracks quite easily Potter!" Draco smiled again.

God, Harry could never tire of that beautiful smile! Especially knowing he was the one bringing it to his face, after years of seeing him scowl!

"Well, the first time it's kind of weird and seems a bit gross even, but very quickly you get to find it pretty enjoyable. Believe me, giving it is almost as good as receiving. You should try it sometimes," he added with a wink, smiling again.

Harry could physically feel the blush creeping up his face at the thought. "Well, I guess I'll find out one day," he said, still avoiding Draco's eyes.

"Well, I certainly hope so! The sooner the better I'd say! You know what? You could try it now, you know, for the sake of experimentation? I'm not thinking about myself there Potter, I'm thinking about you. I'm totally disinterested," he added with another wink resulting in Harry shoving him hard. "Ouch! Are you going to stop hurting me, Potter?" he snarled.

"Not until you stop being a git," Harry replied with a grin.

"Why am I being a git? I'm just trying to do you a favour and get a little something along the way!" Draco said indignantly. "Speaking of which... If you're finally done with all your annoying questions, we could maybe..." he kissed Harry on his mouth and started undoing his shirt. Harry couldn't hold out a moan and soon forgot about everything else. His other questions could wait. He hastily grabbed his wand and cast both a locking and silencing charm on the door, before rushing back into Draco's waiting arms.

* * *

"Well, what a pleasant surprise! I haven't seen much of you those last few days!" Blaise Zabini told Draco as the lean blond took a seat opposite him in the library.

"Well, I've been pretty busy, Blaise," Draco replied.

"I can see that," Blaise said, a strange look on his face. "Been having fun, Draco?" he added with a smile.

"Well, I've been studying a lot if you must know," Draco snarled, getting all his books out of his bag and spreading them on the desk.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really, studying?" he added with a big smile. "Is Potter a good teacher then?"

Draco looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I certainly have no idea what you're talking about, Blaise."

"Oh, really?" Blaise smiled again. "It's funny, I would have bet you two had kept staring at each other all day long, thinking naively that no one would notice." 

"And how would you know that? Been staring at Potter a lot lately, Blaise? You have the fantasies you want, after all," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Though I didn't know you played for the team, I must say it rather surprises me, after all those years chasing girls!" 

"Yeah, well, you can play all you want, Draco, but I know what I saw. And you'd better wish Theo doesn't learn about it. He's not exactly over you, if you must know." 

"Why, what did he say to you?" 

"Not denying it anymore, then, Draco?" Blaise said, a victorious smile on his lips. Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, what do you think?" Blaise went on. "He came to me right after you left him. The guy was inconsolable, moping around so much it was embarrassing. You know it happens all the time? Every time you break up with a guy they come to me. God, if I were gay, I would have lots of opportunities thanks to you!" 

"Well, help yourself to my leftovers as much as you want, Blaise," Draco teased. "Anyway, what can I say? The guy practically asked for my hand, and I wasn't remotely interested," he added, taking his parchment and quill out from his bag.

"Yes, that's what he told me." Blaise stated, looking into Draco's eyes. "You don't generally give the poor gits a chance to get too close anyway, do you?" Draco shrugged. "Yeah, I thought so," Blaise added thoughtfully.

He took a moment to consider his friend and then said. "So Potter? I certainly didn't see that one coming! I wonder what in the hell you have done to manage something like that!"

"Well, what can I say? Nobody can resist my charms!" 

"Yeah, always been such a mystery to me!" Blaise sighed dramatically. Draco looked at him and suddenly kicked him hard under the table.

"Ouch, you bastard!" Blaise said loudly. Madam Pince looked at them with a stern look on her face.

"Something wrong, Blaise?" Draco whispered with a grin. Blaise bent over a little to rub his leg, a grimace of pain on his face.

He leaned back and looked again at Draco. "Anyway, I didn't even know the Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World was gay! I thought he was dating Weasley's sister?"

"Well, yeah, he was. But then he saw me and decided to give up on girls once and for all!" 

Blaise laughed. "You're a prat. But seriously, what happened to him?"

"Well, I don't know! He's probably been gay all his life but was too busy chasing villains to see it! Now that everything is over at last, he finally realises how incredibly sexy and utterly irresistible I am and got completely overwhelmed by the power of his attraction to this gorgeous body!" he boasted.

"Yeah, you're probably right, that must definitely be it!" he said mockingly.

"Of course I'm right! I'm always right!" 

"Yeah, well anyway, I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do, don't worry about that. I'm just taking what there is to take and that's it." 

"Well, be careful not to get too carried away and do something stupid like... fall in love," Blaise replied in a more serious tone.

"Are you crazy? You know I can't afford to! Not with a guy anyway." He had a bitter look on his face. "I have to marry some chick Father will have chosen for me and produce an heir as you well remember, Blaise," Draco added sadly.

"I certainly do," Blaise replied, knowing all too well how things worked in pure-blood circles. His own mother had married seven times, after all.

"Right, anyway, don't worry, it's just fooling around, nothing to get overexcited about," Draco drawled.

"If you say so…" Blaise concluded.

And with that, they finally started working on their assignments.


	10. Revelations

Harry was feeling great. More than great, almost ecstatic. It had only been three weeks since Draco had kissed him in the Astronomy Tower but it felt like so much more time had passed since then!

He had rarely felt so happy in his life. After all he had been through, that was simply how he felt: ridiculously happy. Draco was the first thing on his mind when he woke up in the morning and the last thing when falling asleep. He was amazed to see how well the two of them were getting on, considering the way they had treated each other all those years, and he couldn't help thinking how different things could have been between them, had they not been fighting each other harshly from the very beginning.

Draco was something. Like Harry had told Ginny at the time - God, it felt like a lifetime ago! - there was much more to Draco than what he showed the world. In the privacy of Harry's bedroom, Draco was a very bright, interesting and sensitive boy. The two of them spent hours talking about many things while cuddling on the bed. The conversations flowed very naturally between them and they felt utterly comfortable with one another. On top of that, Harry had discovered something that he had never suspected before: Draco was a very funny guy and he made him laugh like no other.

True, Draco was sometimes acting like the arrogant prat Harry had always known, showing his displeasure without restraint when things wouldn't turn the way he wanted them to. He was also, from time to time, behaving like the spoiled brat he had always been and still had weird views on certain subjects. However, Harry was aware that these personality traits were part of the package and he knew to look past Draco's imperfections to reach what was safely hidden behind those appearances.

There were still topics they would avoid though. It was for example, still too early for Draco to speak about his Dark Mark and anything that had happened during sixth year. But Harry knew it was just a question of time before he would open up and accept to talk about these delicate subjects. Harry had already learned a few things concerning Draco in general and his family in particular. Like the way Draco had been raised in this wealthy and bigoted environment, how he had always been close to his mother and in awe of his father, still being full of respect for him even after all that had happened.

The thought of Lucius Malfoy made him shiver slightly. The man had not left good memories... Fortunately, Draco was rather different from his father. Harry loved how they would meet almost daily in the intimacy of his bedroom. He was rapidly becoming addicted to spending time alone with Draco. Hermione and Ron were so busy themselves that they didn't even suggest meeting with Harry after class anymore and it was fine by him. It was like a tacit agreement between them. Harry understood very well how his friends craved to spend time alone with one another because Harry felt the same about Draco, always wanting to be with him, to be physically close to the boy. Harry sometimes wondered if the others, and particularly his friends, noticed that both Draco and he were missing at the same time on a daily basis. If it were the case though, nobody had mentioned anything about it yet. On the other hand, Draco and him kept their distance in front of the others, and even if they didn't fight like they used to, they were very careful not to give any hint as to what was going on between them behind closed doors.

Harry had mixed feelings about his two best friends. He couldn't help thinking about how Ron and Hermione were somehow experiencing the same things Harry was, probably discovering what it felt like to be close and intimate with someone just like he was with Draco. He supposed his friends had about the same questions and hesitations about what it was like to be in a relationship with someone.

However, he felt sad that he couldn't tell them about any of it. It was such a shame that, after all they had gone through together, they should not be able to talk about what was happening to them right now. True, Harry was experimenting in that field with a boy but apart from that detail, it wasn't much different. It felt weird to him not to be a part of that, not to share those incredibly important moments of their lives with his two best friends. It was utterly frustrating. Harry wasn't used to being left out of what any of them was living after having spent years sharing about absolutely everything, especially with Ron.

Harry was missing Ron's easy-going and goofy personality a lot. Sure, they still spent time with each other on a daily basis but it wasn't quite the same. Without his friends knowing about his relationship with Draco, a whole important part of his life was hidden from them and Harry wished he could simply tell them. He sighed at the thought that, had he been with a girl, things would have been totally different. He surely wouldn't have to hide as if what he was doing was terribly wrong. How could something that felt so good be considered so bad by some people? Harry sighed again and tried to focus on something more positive.

The time spent in bed with Draco was amazing. Harry had been intimidated at first, feeling overwhelmed by his emotions and even sometimes embarrassed and vulnerable at displaying himself the way he was in front of Draco. Still, Draco was doing everything he could to make him comfortable. He was very patient with him, always doing everything he could to please Harry. Harry knew Draco had much more experience with boys. He knew Draco had already had proper sex several times with other boys including Theo, and yet, he never showed any signs of impatience with him, never forcing him to do anything he didn't want to do, patiently waiting for Harry to be ready. Of course, he would never admit it out loud. He would always hide what he did and felt behind a mask, sneering and teasing him constantly. But Harry knew better. He knew that despite everything, Draco thoroughly respected him and it felt exhilarating.

There was one thing in particular that Draco was doing to Harry that was driving him crazy. Harry liked it so much that he couldn't wait to return the favour now. He knew Draco wanted it badly too, because he had already asked him to do it to him once and also because he could see it in his eyes every time Harry's face was going close to his bits. However, Draco never pressured him into anything. Harry had been thinking about doing it a lot lately, and felt somehow ready now. He was determined to do it for Draco, to well, go down on him, and see if, like Draco had told him, giving it felt as good as receiving.

Harry smiled when he heard the now familiar tiny click in the door, indicating Draco's arrival. He didn't turn back as he heard the door squeak open and then close but simply shut his eyes, a smile on his lips as he felt the pressure of Draco's hands on his waist. He shivered as Draco kissed him softly on the back of his neck, wrapping his hands around Harry's stomach. Harry slowly opened his eyes and turned around, sending his arms around Draco's neck, leaning into his warm body and kissing him soundly on his mouth. Draco let out a moan and opened his lips slightly to allow Harry's tongue inside of his mouth while his hands found their way down Harry's bottom. Harry shivered as Draco slightly pulled away and started mapping his lips with his tongue, trapping his bottom lip, sucking on it lightly before it invaded Harry's mouth again. God, he felt already so aroused, and it was just a kiss! Draco soon broke it and considered him with an amused grin on his face.

"Missed me?" he asked cheekily.

Harry seemed to be thinking hard. "Mmm... I don't know..." he answered with a grin.

Draco frowned. "Really? Well maybe I should go back to the common room and see if someone else would like to spend time with me then? I could ask Theo?" 

"Don't you dare! You're all mine!" Harry replied, looking offended, and Draco was laughing at him again so Harry decided to stop him by kissing him hard and pushing him to the bed. Draco moaned loudly but didn't object at all and soon they were lying down, and Draco had somehow once more managed to get on top of Harry. They were kissing intensely and groping each other, soon becoming frustrated by the amount of material standing between them.

They started moving against one another feverishly, never breaking the kisses. Soon, Harry was fighting his way up to settle on top of Draco again. He wouldn't let him without a fight so Harry unashamedly grabbed Draco's crotch, unsettling him and allowing him to gather his strengths in order to pin Draco hard on the bed, firmly sitting on top of his hips.

"Git!" Draco murmured.

"I learned from the best!" Harry replied with a smile.

At that point, the atmosphere in the room changed. Harry could now see pure lust in his lover's eyes and that set all his nerves on fire. He was ready to do all he could to please him and planned to do just that. Today, it would be all about Draco.

Harry started by slowly removing the boy's sweater, never looking away from his beautiful grey eyes. Draco motioned to put his hands on Harry's waist but he wouldn't let him. He pushed Draco's hands away firmly and proceeded to undo Draco's tie, then his shirt, button after button, taking his time to appreciate the firm muscles he could feel beneath the fabric. Draco smiled lightly and put both his hands under his head, enjoying Harry's ministrations. Harry then started opening Draco's shirt carefully, running his hands slowly over every part of his chest, teasing his nipples with his thumbs, the boy moaning his approval. When he was done, Harry leaned forward and hungrily attacked his neck, licking and sucking every inch of the sensitive skin with his tongue, leaving an angry red mark on it. Draco placed one hand on Harry's head, softly caressing his hair, gently entwining his fingers in Harry's dark locks. He closed his eyes and threw his head back, letting out a loud moan.

Harry then started trailing light kisses down Draco's body.

He started trailing the tip of his tongue across his abdomen, slowly working his way down. He gently kissed Draco's belly button and made him shiver again. As Harry was approaching the waistband of his lover's trousers he paused and took a deep breath. He felt Draco's hand gently squeeze his head. "Potter... no matter what I told you before, I... you don't have to..."

Harry looked up in his eyes. "I know, but I want to. And by the way, I think you can call me Harry now." Draco eyed him in a strange way, biting his bottom lip and nodding slowly. Harry then hastily proceeded to unbuckle Draco's trousers and pulled them down, not wanting to analyse the situation too much at that point. God, he had been thinking about doing that for a while now and couldn't wait any longer. He started removing Draco's boxers deftly and unconsciously licked his lips when he finally got a sight of Draco's cock.

That was it. Harry couldn't back away. He once again tried not to think too hard about what he was doing, silencing the voice that was telling him that he certainly shouldn't put his mouth on something like  _that_. He leaned down and took in the heady scent of Draco at the base of his cock. Draco couldn't hold a whimper as Harry stuck his tongue out and started delicately tasting his dick. It didn't taste bad and felt rather soft under his tongue. Encouraged by this first contact, Harry decided to try what Draco usually did to him and started licking the shaft slowly, right up to the top. He couldn't believe he was doing something like that, but it felt strangely natural and actually very nice.

"Oh God,  _Harry_..." Draco was revelling in his explorations. Harry soon reached the tip of Draco's cock and delicately licked the liquid that was pooling at the top, steadying Draco's member with his right hand. It felt okay, Harry decided, just slightly bitter. He then proceeded to lick Draco's swollen red head a few times, swirling his tongue around it. The boy couldn't hold out a cry and was now pushing his hips up and applying more pressure on his head, encouraging Harry to move further down.

Harry looked up at the same time as Draco and their eyes met at once. Draco's were dark with lust and want. Harry screwed up his courage and opened his mouth wide, taking Draco's head in his mouth. Draco let out a long moan, along with a " _fuck_ , Harry," and put his head down again. Harry took the whole of his lover's dick in his mouth, lips pursed, being very careful not to hurt him with his teeth. He realised he did not mind the taste and was rather enjoying the feel of the warm weight on his tongue. He started to work up and down the shaft, testing the boy's reactions all along. At that point, his own cock started desperately begging for attention. He was rock hard but resisted the urge to grab himself and focused on the beautiful boy beneath him instead. He swiftly put a hand on Draco's balls, fondling them with care, still sucking him hard, wanting to do things well. Draco was groaning loudly now, writhing helplessly on the bed.

"Merlin, Potter, I'm going to... I'm...  _oh God! Harry!_ " Harry froze in place and then hastily removed his mouth from Draco's cock, encircling it with his right hand instead, stroking him rapidly. It only took a second for Draco to come abundantly all over his chest in a long, beautiful cry. Harry was thoroughly impressed at seeing him completely lose control like that and felt humbled at having been the one to provoke such a reaction.

"Merlin, Harry, that was... God, that was brilliant!" Draco panted heavily, eyes half-closed. Harry looked at him fondly and then leaned down to kiss him.

Draco suddenly seemed to remember something. "What about you? We have to take care of you now," he drawled, cupping Harry's hardness.

Harry felt very grateful for that. God, he was in desperate need to come! He hastily undid his trousers and started pushing them down when he heard a soft knock on his door and a muffled voice calling his name.

He froze in place, looking at Draco with eyes wide open in shock.

 _Ron_.

Oh shit, no. Not now! Harry thought desperately.

Draco was the first to react. He hurriedly cast the cleaning spell on Harry and himself, before pulling his trousers and pants up in a swift movement and scrambling back on his feet. He grabbed his shoes and sweater and headed straight for the bathroom, closing it silently behind him.

Harry quickly came around and dressed again rapidly. He tried to conceal every trace of what they had just done, quickly pulling the covers back on the bed. He then walked to the door, throwing a last look at the bathroom, before opening to his best friend. Harry ran his fingers in his hair rapidly, hoping sincerely he didn't look too ruffled.

Ron appeared on the doorstep. "Harry, mate, I'm so happy to see you!" Ron hugged him briefly, before hurriedly walking past him and sitting straight on the bed, where Harry had just been fooling around with his boyfriend.

 _Shit_. Harry had imagined asking Ron to come back later but it was hard to do so now that his best friend was looking at him, visibly very happy to be there.

"We haven't had much time just the two of us lately, so I thought, you know, that I would come and catch up a bit."

Harry looked at him with a funny expression on his face and slowly closed the door. "Yeah, well..."

"So," started Ron. "Feeling better? I haven't had the chance to speak to you much since that day when you went to talk to Ginny and that was like a month ago!" 

"Five weeks in fact," Harry corrected, mostly to himself.

"Oh, well, never mind. How are you?" he patted the space next to him on the bed, inviting him to sit down. Harry threw a quick glance at the bathroom door again and came to sit next to him.

"Well, I'm... good. I'm really feeling great now, thank you." Harry was indeed very grateful for what his two best friends had done, even if they had no idea what that had truly meant to him.

"Well, I'm really glad to see you're feeling better, mate!" 

"What about you?" Harry inquired, wishing to change the subject. "How are you and Hermione doing together?" 

"Well, things are going pretty well, we're... getting closer and closer every day, and I mean, not just in a physical way," he blushed "though that is a nice part but... it's really good, Harry, being so close to someone like that, I had no idea!" 

Harry swallowed hard and slightly turned to look at the bathroom door again, inwardly agreeing with Ron. God, yes, it did feel good! But then his face dropped. He couldn't even tell Ron that he knew exactly how he felt. He couldn't tell Ron how much he understood what he was going through, and he felt frustration creeping in inside of him. It was so unfair!

"Everything's alright, Harry?" 

"What? Yes, sure! I mean, I'm really happy for you two. And I agree, it's pretty awesome to be so close to someone." The last words were almost whispered, as Harry was glancing at the bathroom door again.

This time, Ron followed his gaze and frowned. "Harry, are you... is there something you're not telling me?" 

It was now or never. He could tell Ron right now, God, he wanted so badly to tell Ron right now, to share with his best friend how crazily happy he felt with Draco! It wasn't fair that the boy had to hide in his bathroom like that either, like Harry was somewhat ashamed to be with him, to be what he was, having to hide the man he was slowly falling for like he were not worthy of being acknowledged by his best friend.

Harry quickly made up his mind. Enough of all that. He would tell Ron. He felt Ron couldn't truly be his best friend anymore if Harry didn't share what he was deep inside and the feelings he had.

He cleared his throat, looked intensely into his best friend's eyes and cautiously said. "You're right. There  _is_  something I'm not telling you and to be honest, I'm sick of hiding things from you." Harry dropped his gaze and fixed a spot on his trousers.

He felt Ron's hand on his knee. "Harry... I'm... your best friend right?"

"Of course, Ron!"

"Well, I'm a bit gutted. Why would there be something you wouldn't tell me, I'm your best friend, no? Especially after all we've been through together."

Harry looked up at him, searching for his words. "Ron I'm  _really_  sorry, but it's not been easy, believe me. It's been hard for me to realise... what was going on and by the time I'd started accepting it, well, things were happening fast and well, you were pretty busy too, with Hermione and all. But that's fine, don't worry! It's just that-"

"Harry, you're not making much sense, mate. Just tell me what's going on, you're really starting to worry me."

Harry took a deep breath and looked right into Ron's eyes. "Right. Ron... I... I... ah... I'm..." Shit, that was hard! He enunciated the words a few times in his head before finally blurting them out. "Ron, I'm gay." There, he had said it out loud. He felt Ron's hand leaving his knee at once, like it had suddenly turned on fire. Harry closed his eyes in a pathetic attempt to protect himself from his friend's reaction. After a while, noticing nothing special had happened, he slowly opened his eyes and saw Ron gaping at him, frozen in place.

"Ron?  _Ron?_ " Shit.

"I can't believe it!" Ron finally said, looking at him with eyes wide open.

"I know," Harry replied sadly.

"No! No, I can't believe you wouldn't tell me something like that!"

"Look, I'm sorry, I know I should have told you about it before but-"

"Are you sure? I mean, how do you know that you're gay anyway? Because, it seems a bit sudden and unexpected to me!" Harry couldn't help thinking that considering what he had been doing earlier and how much he had enjoyed doing it, yes, he was pretty sure he was gay, thank you very much. "Yeah, I mean, one day you're all lovey-dovey with my sister, I kind of give you my blessing and all and then the next day, you're suddenly gay? I'm sorry mate, but that doesn't make much sense to me." Ron said bewildered.

"Ron... I... I don't know what to say... I think I might have been like that from the very beginning but I just... I just didn't realize it at the time... I mean, I've never really been with girls. Remember how things were with Cho? It didn't turn out well... And with Ginny... well she's a gorgeous, lovely, smart girl, and I really liked being with her but... but I like being with boys more... It's just, I don't know, I know that I'm attracted to boys now, I like boys, I - "

"Right, right, okay, I get it," said Ron looking slightly put off. He paused, looking straight at Harry. "Wait a minute. Did you just say you liked being with boys?" 

"I... yes, I did," replied Harry evasively, turning his head away.

"So, does that mean that... you've already been with one?" 

"Well, as a matter of fact, I... yes, I have, but-"

"And you're still with one?" Ron insisted, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, I am." Harry said, looking down.

"Wow... so you have like, a  _boyfriend?_ Merlin, you really are... gay then." It seemed to have just dawned on him.

"Well, yes, Ron, I-"

"Since when?" Ron interrupted him again. "Harry, how long have you had a boyfriend?" 

Harry looked at him for a while and answered with a shy smile. "Three weeks."

"Three weeks..." repeated Ron, pondering something. Ron's face changed all at once. He suddenly turned to Harry, a look of pure shock on his face, as he slowly put his hand on his mouth and uttered, "Oh no. No, Harry. Please tell me you didn't-"

"Ron..." Harry said feebly. That was it. The moment of truth Harry had been waiting for.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Harry, no!" Ron had almost shouted the last word and had stood with a start, looking at him with a look of horror on his face now. "Please Harry,  _please_  don't tell me it's that arrogant piece of shit of  _Malfoy?_ "

Harry stood as well, blushing hard. He unconsciously glanced at the bathroom door.

Ron caught him looking at it again, opening his eyes wider -Harry didn't think it was even possible at that point - then looked back at Harry and at the bathroom door once more. He finally went straight for it and opened the door abruptly, revealing an impassive Draco, leaning nonchalantly against the wall.

"Evening, Weasley. Nice to see you here!" Draco sneered.

Ron took a step back, utterly shocked, gaping at Draco as he quietly went out of the bathroom and walked casually towards Harry.

"You should close your mouth, Weasley, the goldfish look doesn't really suit you!" Draco went to lean on one of the bed posts near Harry, and folded his arms.

Harry sent him a disapproving look. It wasn't really the time to rub Ron the wrong way. Draco rolled his eyes but said nothing more.

Ron kept looking at the two of them in bewilderment, like he couldn't believe they were real.

"Ron..."

"So that  _is_  true? Malfoy really is your... your  _boyfriend?_ " Ron stared at him in disbelief.

Harry felt Draco wince at the word "boyfriend", but he remained surprisingly silent. Harry took a deep breath, wishing to explain himself. "Listen, Ron, I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"Crazy, Harry?" Ron interrupted him. "Crazy doesn't even start to describe how this whole situation is! Look, I don't give a fuck that you're gay, I mean, yeah it's kind of weird when you think about it because obviously, I've never had any clue, but that's not the problem." Ron added, looking at Draco, a clear look of disgust on his face. "The problem is,  _Malfoy_ , Harry? That pompous, selfish, ex-Death Eater bastard, whose family has conveniently changed sides at the end of the war?" 

"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Draco said petulantly.

Shit, of course Ron would freak out over Draco. He didn't know him like Harry did! He couldn't blame him to find the situation slightly over the top!

"Harry?" Ron tried again.

Draco and Ron were both staring at him now, waiting for him to say something.

"Look, Ron, I don't want you to freak out because..." he looked at Draco, "I'm really happy with him."

"Well, what can I say? I'm utterly irresistible!" Draco gloated. Harry couldn't help nervously chuckling softly next to him.

"Oh come on Harry!  _That_  guy? How can you be with someone like, like  _him_? Out of all the nice guys there are? I mean,  _Draco Malfoy,_ Harry?"

"Weasley..." Draco now growled menacingly.

Harry suddenly turned to Draco and asked him in a low voice. "Would you mind leaving us alone for a while?" 

"Are you sure about that? I mean he looks pretty pissed off, I wouldn't like to find tiny bits of Potter scattered all around the room when I come back!" he whispered.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'll catch you up later."

"Well I certainly hope so!" he leaned to Harry's ear and murmured, "I haven't forgotten that your needs have not been dealt with yet..." he said, taking Harry's ear in his mouth and biting it gently. How Harry could still feel aroused in such an intense moment was beyond him. Draco then kissed him languorously on his lips, taking his time, making a show out of it in front of Ron who had turned scarlet at the intimate exchange and who was studiously avoiding looking at them.

"Are you finally done here, Malfoy?" Ron moodily said.

"Jealous, Weasley? Well, I'm afraid I don't snog gingers, there's a limit to the greatness of my heart," he smirked, putting a last quick peck on Harry's lips. "Later!" he said and finally exited the room, shutting the door behind him, with a last look at Harry.

"Care to explain, Harry?"

Harry sighed heavily. "Look, I don't know what to say. I know it's a huge shock to you, and I sincerely can't blame you for that. I mean, if anyone had told me even a few months ago that I would end up with Draco," he felt his friend cringe at the fact Harry had used his first name, "I would probably have beaten the crap out of them. But anyway, that's the way things are now..." he added, looking at his best friend again.

"But Harry, seriously! You're sure you remember who he is and what he did to you all those years? Has he confunded you or done something to you that would explain why on earth you would go out with him? Harry? He's an ex-Death Eater for Merlin's sake! He was on Voldemort's side! His family tried to destroy us! Hell, his 'friends' killed my brother!" he was almost shouting now.

"I- I know, Ron, and I'm not trying to pretend any of this hasn't happened, believe me. I think about it all the time. Hell, I still have nightmares about it all." Harry said in a very soft voice. "But I also know he's changed, and that he's much more complex than we thought. Look, he never denounced us at the Manor." Ron was about to say something but Harry added quickly. "Ron, I like him, a lot, and... and I know exactly how you feel about Hermione, because that's how I feel about him. I'm happy, Ron, happier than I've been in months, hell, in years probably. And I don't want to lose that, nor do I want to lose you."

Ron looked at him for a long while. Harry could see he was torn. He didn't resent him for not understanding what was going on between Draco and him.

After a moment that felt to Harry like hours had passed, Ron walked the few steps separating them and searched his eyes.

"Fine. If you're sure you know what you're doing, I'm fine. I mean I'm not thrilled, very far from it and I still can't believe it, but you're right, I'm your friend, your best friend, and I don't want to lose you either." He hesitated for a moment and then said, "oh, fuck it!" before hugging him hard.

Harry felt like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders. His head was spinning lightly at the thought that, even if Ron still loathed Draco, he was ready to accept Harry the way he was and remain his friend. Ron broke the embrace and looked at him with a funny expression on his face, his hands still resting on Harry's arms.

"Harry... you've never... I mean, you know, you've never considered, I mean... you and me..."

"Oh God, no, Ron! I promise! I never thought about you like that! You're like my brother, mate, it would be too weird!" 

"Right, I suspected that, but I still had to check, you know... so, basically, best mates are out of the question, but arch enemies are alright then?" he joked. Harry was laughing heartily now. "Ah well. It's so good to have you back, mate!"

They hugged again and then left for the common room. Harry was feeling incredibly lightheaded and couldn't stop grinning all the way down.


	11. Harry Potter is my boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Warning for a smitten!Draco (yes, it deserves a warning…)
> 
> The lovely micehellhpdm has drawn a beautiful picture of a scene from this chapter, so I'm including it in it! Thank you so much again, honey! :)

"So, the Weasel took it pretty well, in the end!"

"Hey, stop calling him that! He's my best friend!" Harry's tone was indignant.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Right, so what did he say?"

"Well, basically, he's absolutely not thrilled about my choice of partner, but he is willing to make an effort for our friendship's sake."

"Well, that's so generous of him!" Draco snarled. "Does that mean that I'll have to get all cosy with him from now on?"

"You're an idiot! Of course not, you don't have to do anything special. Besides, very few people know about us so…"

"Does Granger know?"

"No. I haven't really found the right time or place to tell her yet."

"You afraid of her reaction?"

"Well, no, it was Ron's I was the most worried about. Hermione is more… understanding, I would say."

"So why don't you tell her then?"

"I will… just, not now."

"Right, so, let's see… how many people know about us, then? You just told the Weasel," Harry sent him a dark look, "right,  _Weasley_ , and on my side, Blaise figured it out."

"He did?" Harry looked slightly worried. "How did he figure it out?"

"Well, apparently we've been ogling at each other quite a lot during classes, so…"

"Merlin, we were that obvious?" The worried look was back on Harry's face.

"Well, I denied it at first, but then, I thought it didn't really matter much after all."

"Bloody hell… is this going to be a problem that he knows about us?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm sure he won't say anything. We've known each other forever and I've never hidden any of the boyfriends I've had before so…"

"Right. So that makes one friend of mine and one of yours. Oh! And Ginny, of course!" Harry said sheepishly.

"Right… Girl Weasley..." Draco trailed off.

"Do you think anybody else suspects?"

"No. I don't see why anybody would. We're not exactly friendly with each other outside of the bedroom."

"True." Harry pondered something. "Do all of your friends know that you're… that you like boys?"

"Well, not really. Pansy knows, of course, which doesn't prevent her from trying to jump me on every single occasion, and obviously Theo knows, although, he can hardly been considered a friend…" Harry winced at the mention of Draco's ex-boyfriend.

"What about Goyle?" Draco's sidekick had unsurprisingly not returned to Hogwarts to complete his studies.

"No. I don't think Goyle ever suspected anything. I was never that close to him, you know."

"Really? But you were always together along with Crabbe!" Harry's voice trailed off as he suddenly remembered how Draco's friend had suffered this horrible death in the Room of Requirement.

"Yeah…"

"Oh, Draco, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"That's fine, Potter. Let's not talk about that right now."

"Right." Harry took another bit of his sandwich. They had been returning to that empty classroom near the Astronomy Tower a few times recently, needing a change of scenery, and finding it less risky to meet there rather than always having to use the Cloak to reach Harry's bedroom. Harry had stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a few sandwiches for them to share while practically everyone else was in Hogsmeade. Harry and Draco had decided to stay behind, in order to spend time together. After all, there was going to be another Hogsmeade weekend in a couple of weeks for their Christmas shopping. Harry had told his friends he wasn't feeling well, while Draco had said he needed to work in the library for his Potions essay, not that the friends who knew about them bought the feeble excuses they had sold them.

 

"So, what are your plans for the holidays, then, Potter?"

" _Harry_ , Draco, call me Harry."

"All right,  _Harry_ , what are your plans?"

"Well, I certainly won't go back to my uncle and aunt's, so I guess I'll spend Christmas at the Weasley's."

"Really? Why won't you go and spend Christmas with your family?" Draco looked surprised.

"Well, let's say they are not exactly the kind of people I'd like to spend Christmas with if I can avoid it, so…"

"And why is that?" Draco looked utterly confused.

Harry shrugged. "Basically Christmas at the Dursley's meant starving, locked up in my bedroom while they feasted downstairs on turkey and mash."

Draco frowned. "How come you weren't having dinner with them?"

Harry sighed. "It's a long story, Draco."

"Well, we have all the time in the world, I'm listening." And with these words, Draco pushed the food aside, leaned against the wall and nestled Harry in between his legs, encircling him from behind with his arms.

"Right. Let's say that my mother's family has never been thrilled with all that had to do with the Wizarding World, to the point that they pretended it didn't even exist."

"No way! What are they, complete idiots?"

"My uncle is a very narrow-minded person and the moment he married my aunt Petunia, he made her cut any link with her own sister, and my Dad. To him, people like us are just freaks." Draco tilted his head to look at him with a weird look on his face. Harry went on. "However, when my parents…" he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, feeling Draco holding him tighter, "when my parents were killed, they had no other choice but to take me with them. They were the only blood-related family I had left and Dumbledore thought it was better at the time to have me raised by Muggles rather than in the Wizarding World."

"Okay… but that doesn't explain why you couldn't have dinner with them?" Draco frowned again.

"Draco… they didn't want me to live with them. I was a constant reminder of that world they were desperately trying to deny even existed. And there I was, with my stupid scar, doing stupid things I didn't even understand, because, of course, they never told me what I was, and they were scared, and pathetic, and wanted me out of their sight… They were forced to take me in, so they made me pay for it."

"How?" Harry could feel Draco was getting tenser by the minute.

"Well, for one thing, before Hagrid barged into my life, I didn't… I didn't have my own room, they were making me sleep in the cupboard under the stairs…"

"They did what?" Draco made Harry turn around to look at him. "They did what?" he repeated.

"Yeah… but it got better, after Hagrid's, er, intervention, I got to have my own bedroom," he quickly added.

Draco was looking at him with his eyes wide open. "What else?" he said dryly. "What else did they do to you?" he seethed.

"Hey, that's all right, Draco, that's all in the past now!"

"Tell me. What else did you have to go through with them?"

"I… I had to do different chores in the house, like cleaning up, and cooking…"

"Merlin, you're not a bloody house-elf!" Draco muttered.

"And, well, I didn't have anything that truly belonged to me. I didn't even have my own clothes, I had to wear my cousin Dudley's and he was rather on the fat-side…"

"God, Harry, I had no idea…" Draco murmured in his ear.

"That's fine, Draco, don't worry. That's all in the past, now, and I don't have to see them ever again, okay?"

"Right. But they'd better never cross my path, or I will show them how to treat you." Harry smiled, flattered by Draco's protectiveness, although he didn't comment on it.

"What about you? You're going to spend Christmas at the… at home?" it was still hard for Harry to pronounce the name of the Malfoy's huge mansion, after all that had happened the last – and only - time he had been there.

"Well, yes. We're going to celebrate the fact that none of us has died or been sent to Azkaban," Draco said bitterly.

"Draco…"

"That's fine, Harry. I know I'm really lucky that things turned out the way they did for my family. And I know you're the one who made sure it happened, by testifying for my parents and myself, and I'm really grateful for that."

"Well, I'm happy I did… your mother lied to Voldemort about me in the Forbidden Forest, and thus allowed me to go back to the castle and resume the fighting. Your father's hands-on collaboration with the Ministry helped them catch the remaining Death Eaters… As for you… well, you deserved a second chance. You were only a kid… and you didn't denounce us at the Manor… By the way… why didn't you? You never answered me when I asked you in the Room of Requirement?"

"I- I don't know… I suppose I was terrified. I knew what the Dark L-,  _Voldemort_  was capable of, and I guess I- I don't know, I can't really explain it, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time," Draco shrugged.

"Well, that was very brave of you," Harry turned to look at him and stroked his cheek with his fingers.

"I don't regret it one second…" Draco whispered, placing a delicate kiss on Harry's lips.

"Me neither…"

The kiss soon intensified, and they got lost in their embrace. After a while, Harry broke the kiss.

"Wanna go upstairs?" he said with a grin.

"Hell, yeah!" Draco replied.

They vanished the food and the blanket and hurried to the West Tower.

* * *

It was the beginning of December, and Blaise Zabini was comfortably sitting on the sofa facing the fireplace in the eighth year common room which was almost empty at that time of day. Pansy was cuddling against him, a habit she had taken long ago, when he had briefly dated her at an age when going out with girls, or at least thinking about it, was taking most of the boy's time and energy.

She was a funny girl. Sure she was loud and had terrible manners but she was a truly loyal friend. Few people knew that she also was a very insecure girl, and that her jibes and big mouth were just a way for her to cover up her vulnerability. She had always admired Draco, and the night of the Yule Ball in fourth year had probably been one of the best of her life. She had been allowed to be his princess for the night, deluding herself that he could one day be her prince. However, she had long realised that Draco would never be hers. It broke her heart but she remained faithfully by his side. Blaise sincerely hoped that she would one day find the right man for her.

He felt her suddenly tense next to him. She elbowed him hard in his ribs and he turned to her, slightly annoyed.

"Ouch! Pansy! What's wrong with you?" he asked her loudly.

"Sshh Blaise! Look!"

He followed her gaze, intrigued. His eyes stopped on Theo. He frowned. The boy looked unusually nervous. He was fidgeting uncomfortably on his seat, watching the entrance of the common room restlessly, unable to focus his attention on the book in front of him. He stopped all at once when Draco entered the common room and he stared at him, suddenly frozen in place.

The boy had been the shadow of his old self since his break-up with Draco. True, he had never been the life of the party, but he looked positively distraught these days, not interacting with anyone at all anymore. Blaise knew how Draco could be with his ex-boyfriends. He was always amazed at how so many boys would fall for Draco only to fall harder when he considered they were no fun anymore. But with Theo it had been different. The two boys had been dating for quite a long time and Draco had been Theo's first boyfriend. It must have been particularly hard for him to be dismissed from one day to the next without further notice.

The frail boy was observing Draco's every move. He watched him as he joined Pansy and Blaise on the sofa.

"All right, Draco?" Pansy purred, leaving Blaise's embrace at once to slouch on Draco's lap, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Ouch, Pansy! Better take it easy on the Chocolate Frogs!" he snarled, pushing her away.

Pansy somehow managed to keep her grip on him. "So, Draco," she went on, ignoring his nasty comment, "it looks like your boyfriend's not completely over you. You should have seen him when you entered the room. I thought he was going to have a stroke!" she looked at Theo again.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore. He's just a tiny annoying memory from my past. I'd like to focus on something else, now, if you don't mind," he answered dryly.

"You mean, on Potter's arse?" Blaise replied, slightly amused.

Draco sent him a murderous look. Pansy opened her eyes wide. "Potter? Draco?" She looked at the boy in shock now.

"Shhh! Are you two trying to get me in trouble?" Draco scowled.

"But, Draco-" Pansy started. She was stopped in her tracks by the sudden presence of Theo above them. Pansy flashed him a smile and Blaise felt Draco tense slightly. To add to the confusion, Potter had now entered the room and was observing the scene with an indecipherable expression on his face.

Draco noticed him and the two exchanged a knowing look, Potter nodding imperceptibly to Draco. He then headed for the stairs leading to his room and disappeared from view. Draco turned his attention back to the boy standing before them.

"What do you want, Theodore?" insisting on the last syllable of the boy's name.

"I... can we go and talk somewhere... in private?"

Blaise felt sincerely sorry for the poor guy. Merlin, he had no idea that once Draco had decided he was done with someone, there was absolutely no chance of anything ever happening again between them. Not only that, but Blaise knew perfectly well that Draco despised any kind of weakness in people, and that once they had showed him any, he'd be willing to crush the poor fellows without a second thought.

Draco considered him for a second, a strange look on his face. "No."

"But... I'm... fuck, Draco! Why won't you even just listen to me? I... I just want to talk, Draco, please!" It was starting to be a tad embarrassing. Blaise could see the poor guy was desperate to get Draco back and was abandoning every ounce of self-esteem to get what everybody but him knew he would never have ever again.

"No, I'm done with you. You've had your chance, now leave me the fuck alone," Draco spat contemptuously.

There was a sudden shift in the boy's expression as he sported a dangerous look.

"Fine. But it doesn't end there, Draco," the boy said menacingly. "You've played with me but I won't let myself be treated the way you did anymore. I will make you pay for what you did to me," he seethed.

Draco rose up slowly, an amused smirk on his face. "Oooh, now I'm scared, terrified even! Blaise, please hold my hand, I'm shaking so badly!" Draco mocked him.

Theo was fuming now. Blaise decided to do something before things turned uglier. He stood between the two boys and gently drove Theo away from Draco. He pushed him in the direction of the exit.

"I'll get back to you! You'd better watch your back from now on!" he spat before Blaise took him out of the common room.

* * *

Pansy had followed Draco all the way up to his bedroom. When he had seemed to realise she really intended to get in, he had looked at her and sighed deeply, rolling his eyes before finally opening his door to her. It was always their little game: he pretended to be annoyed by her presence while always letting her in in the end.

Pansy felt highly privileged every time Draco allowed her in his room, knowing that absolutely nobody else, not even Blaise, was tolerated in his retreat. It had nothing special: it was an ordinary room but it was Draco's private space, his haven of peace, the place where he could be himself without restraint.

Draco was now lying on his bed, hands resting under his head, while she was sitting at the other end of it, slouched on one of the bed posts.

She turned to him, a huge satisfied grin on her face.

"Soooo?" she cooed.

"Soooo what, Pansy?" Draco mimicked her.

"Is it true, then?" she beamed. "Potter, really?"

"Of course it is, what do you think?" he snapped.

"Wow, but it's... it's huge!" 

"You have no idea..." Draco said mischievously, rising an eyebrow.

Pansy laughed heartily. "Draco! You perv!" she exclaimed, slapping him on his leg. "Is it, really?"

"Like I'm going to tell you! I don't want you to fantasise about him!" he winked at her, a playful look on his face.

"Well, you must be a very happy boy, then! And so is he..." she murmured almost to herself.

Pansy had been fighting her feelings for him for years. She knew Draco could never be hers, she knew he had nothing more than his friendship to offer and yet, she couldn't help being desperately in love with him.

"Why must all the cute ones be gay!" she whined.

"Well, not  _all_  of them, Pansy. One day you'll find the man of your dreams. A very cute, very straight  _and_  very mental guy who will be crazy enough to fall in love with you!" Draco smirked.

"I've already found the man of my dreams, but he doesn't want me..." she said sadly, tracing invisible patterns with her fingers on Draco's ankle.

"Pansy... we've talked about that a million times! You know perfectly well that nothing will ever happen between you and me! I could never love you the way you'd want me to," he replied impatiently.

"I know... but a girl can dream, right?" she said feebly.

"Well, dreams are not reality, Pansy. This is real life. And real life sucks," he added with a scowl. "I am not in love with you and I never will. Get over it once and for all," he retorted.

She was, once again, deeply hurt by his harsh words. He had always known which buttons to push to get to her. She hated him for that. But at the same time, she couldn't help being irresistibly attracted to him. Maybe it simply was the whole I-fancy-what-I-can't-get thing. Anyway, it didn't matter much. In the end, it always made her suffer.

God, why did it have to be so hard? It was driving her crazy to think that nothing could ever happen between them, it was so unfair; they were such a perfect match! Draco knew her like no one else. He knew what she was deep inside, insecurities and all. And it was the same for him. She knew his deepest secrets, things no one else ever suspected. But that wasn't enough. She felt a lump form in her throat and knew that tears weren't far.

There was a soft knock on the door. They both jumped in surprise and looked at each other. Draco frowned. Pansy hastily got on her feet and went for the door.

She opened it and faced the boy she had despised for so many years, the boy she had tried to turn over to the Dark Lord during the war, the boy she had been carefully avoiding ever since, the boy who was apparently her best friend's boyfriend now, against all odds. She didn't know how Draco would react to the intrusion so she turned to him expectantly.

He sat still in his bed, looking hesitant.

Potter was the first to talk. "I...er, wanted to... but I can come back later on if you're... I mean..."

"That's fine Potter, you can come in," Draco said, standing up.

Pansy was taken aback by Draco's decision. Was he really letting the boy in?  _Wow_... things must be much more serious than what she had expected between them.

"Right, I was about to leave anyway," Pansy said, turning to Draco. "I'll talk to you later," she crossed the room and put a light kiss on his cheek, murmuring swiftly in his ear, "have fun!" and left the room.

As soon as she heard the door lock behind her, silent tears started creeping up her eyes and running along both of her cheeks. She ran more than walked back to her room, crashed on her bed, buried her head in the pillows, and cried restlessly, feeling so desperately lonely.

* * *

Draco was lying down, eyes on the canopy of his four-poster bed, utterly exhausted after another intense session of sexual activity with Harry. Exhausted, but at the same time on some kind of a high. Yeah, that was it. He felt almost ecstatic, something that had never happened to him ever before. He certainly never felt this way with Theo. With his fellow Slytherin, Draco would think about nothing else but his own pleasure. He would meet the boy, kiss him once or twice for good measure, get in bed with him, shag him senseless and then leave right after, barely noticing if the boy had come or not and not caring about it for one second.

With Harry, it was different. For one thing, they had not had proper sex yet, which was kind of weird since usually, Draco would be pretty impatient to get there. It was not that Draco didn't want nor didn't think about it. Merlin, no! He was thinking about it constantly, hell, he was even dreaming about it! It was just that for once, Draco wanted to take his time, to do things well. He didn't know why, nor what was different, but it was. It really was and it felt strangely good.

Unlike what was happening with Theo as well, was the fact that Draco actually stayed with Harry afterwards, and they had long and sometimes passionate discussions. To his utter surprise, he realised that he almost liked that part more than the sex part. True, this time, he didn't really have a choice, since he was in his own bedroom and couldn't simply leave the boy there, but he'd had the same feeling during the last few weeks, whenever they had spent time in Harry's room, which they had done quite a lot lately.

Draco didn't really know what had pushed him to accept the boy in his room either. It had been a spur of the moment kind of decision, but it hadn't bothered him, not at all. It had felt incredibly natural, like the fact that Potter was crossing the threshold of his bedroom was something as insignificant as Slughorn teaching them something boring.

Harry was asleep next to him and Draco propped himself up on his elbow to observe him. He really enjoyed looking at the boy when he was completely oblivious to it. Hell, not just  _looking_ , but really  _staring_. It sounded a bit creepy, but it was an undeniable fact. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the boy's angelic face. It was the only times he could get a proper look at his – what would he call him? – lover? boyfriend? boyfriend… yeah, that sounded okay, hell, not only okay, but pretty good even.  _Harry Potter is my boyfriend_ , he said several times in his head, and decided that it definitely didn't feel weird or embarrassing but that he rather very much liked the sound of it.

"Harry Potter is my boyfriend," he said once more, out loud this time, the words warming his insides.

A huge grin suddenly formed on Harry's mouth and he slowly opened his eyes. He then positioned himself right in front of Draco and gently murmured, "Draco Malfoy is my boyfriend."

Harry then reached his mouth and took Draco in a long, slow and loving kiss which made the butterflies in his stomach flutter crazily. Draco cupped Harry's head in his free hand and intensified the kiss, fighting his way inside the boy's mouth, soon pushing him down and resting on top of him.

They were both rock hard again, and started moving against each other in a rocking motion that was soon getting more urgent and needy. Draco was incredibly aroused again, nestled between Potter's legs like that, and he knew that, despite the fact that he had come copiously only a few minutes ago, he wouldn't be long. The boy was writhing under him, making beautiful tortured sounds, eyes filled with lust and it suddenly all became too much when Draco realised with a jolt that  _he_  was the one provoking these incredible reactions in the other boy, that  _he_  was the one driving this boy, his  _boyfriend_ , crazy.

He soon couldn't hold it anymore, and came all over Harry's stomach in a long cry and it was wonderful really, because now Harry was coming as well, arching his back, eyes rolling up in his head, and Draco's whole world seemed to be reduced to that small spot on his bed where the two boys were now panting heavily, completely consumed, and his head was spinning fast as he felt so thoroughly and ridiculously elated.


	12. Quidditch and other serious matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for the comments, kudos and bookmarks! ;-)

Draco was literally freezing his arse off. His fingers felt numb from the cold in his fingerless leather gloves, and he kept blowing on them to try to get them warmer, having tried to cast a warming spell without much success.

It was a stupid idea. A dumb, idiotic, and ridiculous idea.

Quidditch.

In December.

Against bloody Potter.

Again.

Like he had not been ridiculed enough over the years, never managing even once to catch the fricking snitch before the boy. Plain stupid. At least this time, there wouldn't be a whole cheering crowd witnessing it.

Of course, the idea had been Harry's. Draco would never have had such an inane thought. But the boy had insisted, had looked at him with a stupid grin on his face, almost begging him, and then, had raised an eyebrow.

"Scared maybe, Draco?"

"Sc-, What?"

"Yeah, after all, you've never managed to catch the Snitch against me before, so you're maybe scared to lose again?" he had said casually.

Draco had literally walked into that one. He had rolled his eyes and answered with a dry, "Not on your life!" to Harry, before taking him hastily to the Quidditch changing rooms.

The returning eighth years could no longer play Quidditch with the regular teams, but the previous players had exceptionally been allowed to keep a locker with their uniforms and brooms there, should they want to fly. Draco had not been flying at all this year though, his mind not really being into flying anymore. He had not ridden his broom for ages. He had started losing interest in the whole thing back in sixth year. Being branded with the Dark Mark over the summer and plotting to kill your Headmaster would easily do that to you.

And now, here he was on a freezing Saturday morning of December, sitting on his broom in the snow, teeth chattering like mad, all clad in his green and silver Quidditch uniform, waiting for Potter to get the practice Snitch ready. Since they were not going to play a full game of Quidditch, the Snitch had to be charmed in order to work properly without the presence of the Quaffle and the Bludgers. Charming it also meant that the little golden ball would fly right through the air whenever the two boys were ready, so that they wouldn't have to wait for it to propel itself on its own.

"Potter, before tomorrow would be nice!" he seethed, his breath leaving a trail in the cool air.

"Coming! Just want to make sure I've done it well. I wouldn't want you to claim you've lost because I hadn't spelled the snitch properly!" he snorted cheekily.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Right. As if. I'm going to catch that snitch faster than you can say- hey!" Draco couldn't finish his sentence. The boy had released the snitch and shot off in the air, laughing his arse off. Bastard! Draco kicked the ground hard and bolted after him.

He leaned forward on his broom, gaining speed as he was trying to catch up with Harry. The cold air was hitting his face hard, wickedly insinuating under his robes, and tears were forming in his eyes, but he didn't care. He had to catch the goddamn thing. He had to beat Harry. No,  _Potter_. He had to beat Potter. There were no more Draco and Harry on the Quidditch pitch, just Potter and Malfoy all over again.

The view of the grounds all covered in snow was breathtaking, but Draco didn't pay much attention to it, focusing only on his ex-rival. He was soon gaining momentum, getting closer to the boy, and saw Potter glance over his shoulder and laugh again. Draco couldn't help but smile at the very content expression on Potter's face. He put on another burst of speed, catching up slowly but surely.

They were flying like their lives depended on it now, the wind howling in Draco's ears, as they were both moving faster, their movements elegant and fluid after years of practice. Draco started to relax a bit and truly enjoy the ride. It felt good being back here. He realised now how much he had missed it.

Potter suddenly took a sharp turn and gained speed again, his eyes never leaving the tiny golden ball and getting closer by the minute. Draco managed to follow suit and then slightly veered off course, which allowed him to finally catch up with him before pulling alongside the boy. Without really thinking, he shoved Potter hard on the shoulder with his right hand.

"Hey!" Potter's tone was indignant. He swayed slightly before righting himself straight on his broom again.

"That's for not playing fair, Potter!" Draco snarled.

"Pissed off at having been out-Slytherined, then, Malfoy?" Harry replied, looking very proud of himself, a stupid lopsided grin on his face.

"You wish, Potter!" and he took up speed again, leaving the boy behind for the first time.

He felt a sudden rush of elation flood all over him, taking him completely by surprise. He realised he was sporting an indelible smile on his face now, revelling in the utter joy of soaring over the Quidditch pitch like that. It simply felt amazing: the speed, the rush of adrenalin, the race in itself, and simply being there with Harry, sharing this moment, just the two of them on that clear winter morning. The whole thing felt incredibly good.

And suddenly something dawned on him. Despite all he had done, despite the fact that he had hurt many people, despite having been an utter coward in the face of adversity and despite having been a bloody Death Eater, Potter was here with him today, voluntarily spending time with him and Draco was enjoying himself more than he had in years.

And that's precisely when it hit Draco. He stopped dead in the air at the thought, observing the boy giving all he had in pursuit of the Snitch. Just like that, it hit him. He was finally seeing it all very clearly now. He had tried to take things very casually with Potter but he realised how utterly in denial he had been those last few weeks, heck, probably those last few years.

Potter wasn't just a fling. No, not Potter, Harry. Harry wasn't just a stupid fling. He wasn't Theo. He wasn't there just to pass the time.

He felt slightly dizzy at his own incapacity at seeing the obvious. How could he not have read the goddamn signs?

The way the butterflies fluttered crazily in his stomach whenever Harry was around.

How he was constantly looking for him every time they were separated, physically missing the boy.

How the first thing on his mind when he woke up was Harry… Hell, he even counted the hours he had to wait for their daily meet-ups in Harry's room or his!

Shit, even that! The fact he had let Harry in his room, God, he should have known! Draco felt a cold sweat running down his forehead when it hit him again. Deep inside, he had always known it. It had always been Harry. It had happened. He had stupidly fallen in love.

Shit. How on earth did something like that happen? He thought he had done all he could to avoid such a ridiculous situation. He had even dismissed the whole thing as totally irrelevant when Blaise had suggested it might happen.

But the truth was, he had let himself fall for the boy. To his defence, he had been rejected so badly since the end of the war by so many people, old family friends who didn't want to do anything with the Malfoys anymore, or even random people who would insult them whenever they strolled Diagon Alley that the fact that someone, and not anyone, Harry  _bloody_  Potter at that, had wanted him had made him let his guard down completely.

He couldn't let himself be smitten with someone like that. He couldn't let himself bear any weaknesses, and being in love was the biggest of all. What if he got hurt? What if the boy was just having fun with him and didn't care about him at all? What if the whole thing had just been a ploy to make fun of him, and tear him to pieces, to make him pay for all his misdeeds?

No. Draco had to stop the whole thing at once. He had to break things up with Harry before it all went completely out of control.

He snapped out of his reverie as Harry stopped right beside him and he remembered the reason he was up here in the sky in the first place. Harry was looking at him intently, holding the snitch in his right hand, his hair ruffled and his cheeks flushed, smiling. He was incredibly cute.

Draco looked at him with a serious expression on his face as the boy planted the snitch right under his nose, sporting a victorious grin and said, "And Potter wins again!" but Draco said nothing. Harry was now losing his beautiful smile and searching Draco's face, looking slightly worried. Draco wanted so bad to erase the frown forming on his boyfriend's face with a deep kiss, and run his hands all over his body. But he couldn't. Not anymore.

Without a word, he bolted back down and soon landed with a thud by the changing rooms, Potter on his heels.

"Draco, wait!"

He was now walking fast towards the lockers and put his broom away. He heard Potter dismiss his in a corner of the room and run to him. Draco felt the boy's hands on his as he started to take his leather gloves off. He shook them off him, and threw his gloves and arm guards on the bench, avoiding Harry's gaze at all cost.

"Draco?" Harry was saying again. "Draco, come on, answer me! What is wrong with you all of the sudden? Is this something I have said? Or done? Come on Draco, what the hell is wrong?" The boy grabbed him by his elbow and forced him to look at him. A thousand different emotions passed between them.

"What is it, Draco?" Harry said again gently.

Draco looked at him for a long time, afraid he would surrender to the other boy. God, how stupid he had been! His father had been teaching him for years to not let his feelings overwhelm him, to never get close to anyone, and that if he ever were to come close to people, it would only be to gain information and use it against them when needed.

And Draco hadn't listened. Draco had done exactly the contrary. He had stupidly let himself fall in love with none other than his long-time enemy, the boy who had made his life at Hogwarts miserable, the boy who had made fun of him and treated him like he was no one, the boy who had sent his father to Azkaban, which had been the beginning of his family's downfall.

Because of this boy, he had spent two years being terrified.

Because of this boy, he had been sent out to kill Dumbledore.

Because of this boy, his parents had nearly got killed.

How on earth could he have forgotten about all that? How on earth could he have imagined for one second that this could work? How on earth could he have let himself fall for the bloody prat like that? How?

But then Harry was looking at him, and his eyes held all the answers.

"Draco…" Harry was saying softly now, gently stroking his cheek, and Draco closed his eyes, feeling tears forming in his eyes. "That's alright, Draco, I'm here."

"Wh- why? Why are you here?" Draco managed to say after a while, despite the huge lump in his throat.

"What?"

Draco opened his eyes and asked menacingly. "Why are you here, Potter? Why are you with me?" he seethed, tears in his eyes, stepping closer to Harry who swallowed hard, a flicker of uncertainty passing through his eyes before he quickly regained his composure.

"What do you mean, why am I with you? I'm with you because I care about you, a lot!" Harry didn't seem to understand the battle that was taking place inside Draco's head.

"But how, Harry, how?" Draco insisted. "How on earth can someone like you stand to be with... with someone like... like me? How, Harry? How can you even stand the sight of me? With all I've put you through?" Draco was feeling anger mixed with all his insecurities creeping up insidiously inside of him. "I wake up every single fucking morning wondering how on earth would someone like you want to do anything with some filthy shit like me. So how, Harry, how?" he felt the boy wince at that, but didn't give him a chance to speak.

"I plotted to kill Dumbledore, I nearly killed several other people, including your best friend, I represent all you've been fighting against for fuck's sake! I AM A DEATH EATER!" and with these last words, he pulled on his sleeve hard, almost tearing it out in the process, revealing the ugly mark. "Look at it closely, Harry, LOOK AT IT!  _This_  is what I am,  _this_  is what people see when they look at me!  _This_  is what I will have to live with all my life! That's me! Now look at me and tell me it doesn't matter to you!" he was screaming his head off now, his face contorted with anger.

Harry wasn't moving at all. He looked like he was frozen in place. And suddenly, he did something Draco wasn't expecting at all.

He closed his eyes.

It unsettled Draco like nothing else could have. He calmed down instantly and stared at Harry's beautiful face, with his fine features and his strong jaw and stayed like that, transfixed. After a while, Harry slowly opened his eyes, and reached Draco's face with a tentative hand, soon gently stroking his cheek, never leaving his eyes, soothing Draco like he never would have thought possible. It was Draco's turn to close his eyes now.

"Draco…" Harry murmured, his voice so gentle and so… full of love it made Draco shiver. "I- you are worth so much more than you give yourself credit for… You don't see yourself the way I do… You're very far from perfect, and you're right, I've hated the sight of you for years, but now, I'm done with the hating… I know there's so much more to you than what you show the world… You're a funny, very bright and caring man, and I'm the one who feels lucky to have landed someone like you, I'm the one who wakes up every morning wondering how on earth I could be so lucky as to be with you. I know what you did, and I'm not trying to diminish it, or pretend it didn't happen, but I want to look forward, not back," he paused.

"Draco, never in my entire life have I ever felt so happy… and that's all thanks to you… you make me truly, deeply, incredibly happy… I want to be with you all the time, Draco, I want to spend days in your arms, I want to get to know you even more than I already do, share things with you, shit, Draco, I-" he paused, and Draco opened his eyes, an expectant look on his face. "Draco, I love you…" Harry said in a breath, and then kissed him lightly on his lips.

A violent shiver ran through Draco's spine at Harry's words. He knew he shouldn't let that happen, that it was wrong, but it felt so incredibly right at the moment that Draco was soon lost in the kiss again and was breathing in Harry's scent, and God, as the kiss became more intense, he craved for more, wanting to be so much closer to the boy, to feel him thoroughly and drown himself inside him…

He felt dizzy again and broke the kiss, letting himself fall on the bench with a heavy sigh. His sleeve was still up and the Dark Mark still very visible on his forearm, and he turned his head away, unwilling to look at it one more second.

Harry sat next to him and cupped his chin, making him look in his eyes once more. He knew what the boy wanted now, and he knew he deserved an explanation. He had waited long enough, and Harry had been brave enough to pronounce the three words he himself was unable to say, not that he didn't mean them, because, God, he did, but because he simply couldn't find it in himself to utter them out loud for now.

Harry looked down at Draco's left forearm, and Draco sighed heavily.

"I- I don't know where to start…" he said in a hesitant voice.

"That's okay, Draco, just, tell me whatever you feel ready to share."

Draco nodded and took a deep breath. "When my father was sent to Azkaban at the end of our fifth year, I was completely distraught. Suddenly, I had lost my anchor, my role model, the person I admired the most. My father was - is - everything to me, Harry. He had always been strong, proud and fiercely unafraid of anything, and suddenly, he wasn't there anymore. I had to take over his role and lead the house, and take care of my mother… I was barely sixteen, Harry…"

"Draco-"

"That's fine, my father deserved it. I know that now, even though it's obviously more complicated than that. But I hated you. God, I hated you! I hated you so much for sending him to Azkaban, for making my life so hard and miserable, while you were getting all the glory and praise from everyone again. You even dared call him a scumbag in my face… God, how I hated you. I was so utterly blinded by hatred and rage!" Draco paused, afraid he had already said too much, but he couldn't seem to stop now it all finally was in the open. The boy remained quiet, allowing him to continue. "I know how you feel about my father, Harry, but despite what you think, he's not a bad man. He's made terrible choices, and his motivations have not always been noble, but he is a good man deep inside, believe me, and he is my father. This will never change."

"I- I'm sorry Draco but I don't think I could ever see your father the way...the way you see him. There are too many hard feelings between us..."

"But won't you ever try?"

"I don't know, Draco, I honestly don't know. I can't promise you anything right now. But please, go on."

"Right. I was raised, as you know, in a family that values power and money and let me tell you, I am a Malfoy through and through in that regard: I like power, and I like money, although I'm not sure these two things really matter much now. The difference between my father and I though, is that I don't place them above everything else," Draco said matter-of-factly.

"All my life, I've been surrounded by people who believed in blood purity, who told me that Blood-traitors, Muggle-borns and Muggles were the enemy, and that the Wizarding world would be much better off without them. I believed in all that, Harry. I was a child, and never got to get a glimpse at what the other side's views on the subject were. I hadn't been taught to think much by myself."

"I know, Draco," and Harry gently took his hand in his, stroking it gently with his thumb, tracing delicate patterns on the back of it.

"I didn't want the goddam Mark. I mean, at first I had been stupidly proud to have been 'chosen' by the Dark Lord to accomplish such an important task. I was an arrogant prat, and I couldn't even see I was being manipulated. My mother felt it right away though, and tried to warn me. She knew straight away it was a way for the Dark Lord to punish my father for his failure to retrieve the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. But I wasn't listening; I was so full of myself! And the Dark Lord knew I was an idiot. God, how stupid I have been!"

Harry wasn't saying anything. He was just listening and stroking Draco's hand gently.

Draco closed his eyes and went on. "I was Marked on the 7th of July, the summer before our sixth year. That day will forever remain in my mind as the beginning of the end. I was branded like some piece of cattle in the parlour of my own house." His eyes were clenched tightly now.

"And it hurt. God, it hurt like hell. I was screaming my head off and they had to hold me down hard while the Dark Lord was burning the Mark into my flesh. All the time he was making fun of me for 'crying like a baby' like he was saying. I thought I would lose my mind completely because of the pain, as he was pronouncing spells of the darkest sort and encasing them into the Mark."

"At one point, the pain was so intense that I felt nauseous and started to wish with all my heart he would kill me right there and then so that the searing pain would stop. I finally passed out from it. When I woke up, I was all alone in that room. I was unable to move or speak for hours after that."

"I still can't go to the parlour to this day without shaking badly and feeling my stomach churning. I avoid it at all costs. It holds too many bad memories." Draco realised the boy wasn't caressing his hand anymore, so he paused and opened his eyes slowly.

Harry was looking at him, silent tears running down his cheeks. Draco had never seen Harry cry before. He didn't even think it was possible. The boy was always so brave and strong! He removed Harry's glasses and put them down on the bench. He took him in his arms, and hugged him hard, holding him in tight while Harry sobbed quietly on his shoulder.

"God, I'm so sorry, Draco…"

"Sshhh, that's okay, Harry, it's all over now, it's all in the past… like you said, we need to look forward, now…" he gently murmured, caressing Harry's hair tenderly.

"God, Draco, how terrifying it must have been for you!" Harry said, breaking the hug and wiping the tears from his face.

"It was. I was absolutely terrified. I realised that all the things I had been clinging to, all I had been told about, all the beliefs I had been holding were just one big joke. I wanted so bad to be regarded as a tough guy, to be envied by other people, but I realised then how utterly wrong I had been, and how this wasn't a game at all. It was dangerous. The guy was a madman. He made me do things that I will never ever forget… He made me-" he couldn't continue.

"I know, Draco, I saw what he made you do…"

"You- you know?" Draco was completely taken aback.

"Yes… I- we had this connection," Harry explained, "and I could sometimes feel what he felt, when he was really angry, or happy. My mind would settle in his head and I would live things through his eyes. I saw- I saw how he forced you to torture Rowle…"

"Merlin…" Draco whimpered as he remembered how terrified he had been that day, thinking about his parents constantly because he knew that if he wasn't doing it, they would be killed mercilessly and he would be next. He had had to run to the bathroom to throw up violently afterwards and still regularly had nightmares about it all.

"That's okay, Draco, that's fine, I'm here now…" Harry was comforting him again, cradling him in his arms, and Draco felt tears running down his cheeks again.

"God Draco... I wish I had helped you! When we had that… that fight in the bathroom during sixth year… You were crying when I found you… I should have tried to talk to you then, but I was so angry about what you had done to Katie..."

Draco pulled away a little and stared at Harry, an expression of utter disbelief on his face. "Harry, you're fucking unbelievable! You're apologising for not helping me when I had made my own choices, and  _you_  saved everyone else by confronting him, by  _dying_  for every single one of us? Are you out of your fucking mind, Harry?" He looked at this incredibly selfless boy, who wasn't even aware of the importance of what he had done. Draco felt even more ashamed at his own cowardice and reckless behaviour.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, Harry, for everything, for hurting you, for mocking you, for being such an arse to you while you were being so incredibly selfless and brave and I was just plain stupid-"

He couldn't finish his sentence since Harry kissed him hard again, and he drowned in that kiss and they held tight, Draco cupping Harry's head to prevent him from going away, Harry's hands on his back, encircling him in his strong arms, and Draco didn't want it to stop, didn't want to lose what they had, the strong bond that was now linking them, as he had poured his soul to him like he never had before, telling things to the boy he had never even told his own mother, and God, he knew at that precise moment, that what they had was right, and beautiful, and that he didn't want it to ever stop.


	13. Body and soul

The Christmas spirit was very much in the air at Hogwarts. With only a few days left before the holidays, the excitement of the upcoming end-of-the-year festivities was in full swing. The traditional twelve Christmas trees had been installed in the Great Hall the week before, and every single corner of the castle had been decorated abundantly, in an attempt to hide the scars the castle was still sporting seven months after the war. The glow of the everlasting candles added an eerie look to the ensemble.

It felt good to be able to fully enjoy the holiday spirit without fear of imminent death, thought Harry, a smile on his face, as he tried to read a paragraph from his Potions book for the third time. He had been literally dragged into the library by Hermione, with the tacit complicity of Ron who didn't dare contradict his girlfriend much these days.

He was very much looking forward to spending Christmas at the Burrow with the Weasleys. He loved feeling he was part of this incredible family, after having spent years as a child celebrating Christmas on his own in his cupboard under the stairs, while the Dursleys were feasting on turkey and Brussels sprouts. True, this year it would be different, since it would be the very first Christmas without Fred. However, he was sure the Weasleys would do their best to convey the Christmas spirit to the household. He felt a pinch at the thought that he would never officially be a part of the family anymore, but he felt confident that the Weasleys would always leave their door open to him, even after learning about his break-up with Ginny and his newly discovered sexual orientation, as he didn't plan on hiding it. It would probably be slightly awkward to be around Ginny, but their last interactions had been friendly, so he wasn't really worried about that.

There was only one thing that prevented him from being totally thrilled at the thought of being away from the castle for the holidays: he would miss Draco terribly. He tried not to think about it too much, because whenever he did, it made him incredibly unhappy. Two weeks, in such a young relationship, was a really long time to spend apart and even though he knew Draco had feelings for him, especially after the confessions he had made in the locker room the other day, he wasn't completely sure they would be able to reconnect and get what they had back after the holidays.

As a coincidence, Draco chose that exact moment to make his entrance in the library, followed by his fellow Slytherin friends, Blaise and Pansy. Harry tried hard not to stare too much at his well, boyfriend, but couldn't help throwing him a glance above his book. Draco noticed him as well and nodded at him briefly, an imperceptible smile on his lips.

Ron looked up from his parchment at the same time and followed his gaze with interest. After checking Hermione wasn't looking, he rolled his eyes ostensibly at Harry. The two friends had not yet had the chance to talk about Harry's relationship with Draco since he had come out to Ron a couple of weeks ago. Harry knew that Ron still felt rather uncomfortable about it all, and the fact that he didn't even want to acknowledge it whenever they were alone together was probably a way for him to pretend it simply wasn't happening.

Harry didn't resent Ron for it. He felt immensely grateful for his friend to have accepted his relationship with Draco with as little outrage as he had shown. That meant a lot to him, and even though Harry would have liked to share some parts of it with his best friend, he knew Ron needed time and he respected that.

Hermione interrupted his train of thoughts. "Could you pass me the book right next to you, Harry please?" she said in a very business-like tone.

"Sure," he replied, reaching for the book. He handed it to her, but she wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Harry followed her gaze. She was looking at Draco, like she was suddenly remembering something.

"Did you know that Malfoy was gay?" she blurted, finally taking the book from Harry's hand. Ron nearly choked on his own tongue and Hermione frowned slightly at her boyfriend's odd reaction. Harry felt a deep blush starting in his neck and creeping up his face alarmingly fast. Fortunately, Hermione had her eyes on Draco again.

"How- how do you know?" he swallowed hard and managed to say after a moment.

"Well, I overheard Zabini and Nott talk about it the other day outside of the common room. Apparently, Nott and Malfoy had been together for a while but Malfoy broke up with him recently." Hermione looked back at them and frowned. "Well, you don't really look surprised, you two. Did you know about it?" she looked at them slightly puzzled. "Ron?"

"I- well, don't look at me, Hermione," Ron made a dismissing gesture and turned to Harry. "Harry? Maybe you should… you know…" Shit. As usual, Ron was as subtle as a flying brick.

The frown on Hermione's face increased, forming a deep cleft between her eyebrows.

"Harry?"

Ideally, he would have liked to tell her when there were only the two of them, at a time and place he would have chosen, but he had been too chicken to spill the beans whenever he had had the opportunity. God, how he wished he had done it now! But it was too late. The whole thing had lasted long enough already. He had been dating Draco for a while now, and she was his best friend after all.

He sent a quick look at Draco who had taken a seat with his companions further away in the library and sighed heavily. At that moment, Harry wanted nothing but to go and find comfort in his boyfriend's arms.

"Yes," he stated. "I know he's gay."

She looked at the two of them, slightly annoyed. "Well, that's nice! Thank you for sharing the information with me!" she pouted, opening the book Harry had handed her and starting skimming through the table of contents.

Harry felt something kick him hard under the table and looked at Ron with a questioning look. He silently mouthed a "What the…?" to which Ron responded by tilting his head in the direction of Hermione.

"Are you two nearly done, yet?" Hermione said quietly, her eyes still on her book.

Ron looked at Harry and threw a sideway glance at his girlfriend, tilting his head towards her again. Shit. Ron was urging him to tell Hermione. He knew deep inside his best friend was right, that he should tell her, but he couldn't find it in him to do it just yet. He raised both his hands in a dismissing gesture.

"Right, what is going on here?" Hermione slapped her book shut and looked at them, slightly annoyed.

"Harry has something he would very much like to tell you," Ron blurted boldly, blushing slightly.

Harry sent him a murderous look.

Hermione looked at Ron with a slight frown and turned to Harry. "What is it, Harry? Does it have anything to do with Malfoy being gay?" she finally asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, yes, it- as a matter of fact, it does," he paused, looking at Ron insistently, but his friend was avoiding his eyes like the plague. God, he was going to kill him!

Hermione looked at Harry with a strange expression on her face. "Right, tell me."

"Okay," he took a deep breath. "At the beginning of the year, I- I stumbled on Malfoy and Nott snogging in the common room." 

Harry started fidgeting nervously so Hermione put a hand on his. "Please, Harry," she said softly.

He calmed down a little and went on. "At the time, it was a total surprise to me, but it kind of triggered something in- in me and made me realise that I probably was… like them," he said sheepishly, fixing an old stain on the table. There was an awkward silence.

"Finally, Harry!"

He looked up, a puzzled expression on his face. A huge grin was forming on her face.

"Excuse me?" he said, slightly taken aback by her unexpected answer.

"God, I've been waiting for weeks for you to tell me!" she said again, smiling tenderly at him.

"Wait, you… you knew?"

"That you're gay? Well, I  _suspected_  it, I didn't know for sure, but, yes, I felt you might be."

Harry couldn't find anything to say. This clever young woman, his best friend, had worked it all out for weeks, and hadn't said anything. Shit.

"Why didn't you tell me then, if you knew?"

"Well, because, I thought you would tell me eventually, whenever you felt ready for it. I didn't want to force you into saying it, and I knew you probably needed time to come to terms with it all anyway," she shrugged.

"I don't know what to say, Hermione, I- it's been… complicated for me, and, God, I should have told you earlier!" he felt suddenly ashamed at not having felt strong enough to confide in his best friends.

"Well, why didn't you?" she said softly, squeezing his hand.

"I- I was scared you would think badly of me," he almost whispered.

"Harry, how could you think that? I told you, remember? In the empty classroom? I told you I would always love you, no matter what, I meant it!" 

Ron stepped in at that point. Harry had almost forgotten he was there in the first place and jumped a little at the sound of his friend's voice.

"Er, Harry, I think you have something else to tell Hermione…"

Hermione looked at him again. At that point, Harry was pretty sure she already knew what he was about to tell her.

"No, you're right, there is something else," he said. "But I think you've already figured it out…"

"I want to hear it from you, Harry, please," she held his hand tight.

"Okay. After I discovered I was attracted to- well, boys, I soon realised that there was one boy in particular that I was kind of… crushing on-"

" _Malfoy_ …" she whispered, releasing the grip on his hand and turning to look at Draco who was totally oblivious to the scene that was happening only a few feet away from him. He was deeply focused on his parchment and books.

"Yeah..." 

"Is Malfoy… Are you two together, then?"

Harry nodded slowly.

She leaned back in her chair and muttered, "You're in a relationship with  _Draco Malfoy_ …" as if she needed to say it out loud to make it true.

Harry and Ron remained silent, exchanging glances.

"How long have you been with the- with him?"

"A month and a half."

"Sweet Merlin! But... how on earth did something like that happen?"

"Well, remember that time when you asked Draco to come and talk to me in my room?" 

"Oh no, we didn't," she turned to Ron, bringing her hand to her mouth. "We literally sent him in his arms." 

"I always thought it was a bad idea..." Ron muttered.

"Well, at the time it had seemed like a good idea," she quipped "And what about you? You were very welcome to come up with something better!" 

"Hey stop fighting, you two! Nothing happened then, relax!" 

Hermione looked at Ron for a moment before turning to Harry again. "Right, sorry, Harry." She paused. "I remember that day, you know? You looked very upset and we couldn't get to you, you wouldn't let us. And then I remembered how-" she seemed to be looking for the right word, " _weird_  you had been behaving around Malfoy in Charms so I thought that maybe he could help you with whatever you were going through. Although I didn't know at the time that… Oh God, that was it…" she murmured. "You were upset because you had figured out your attraction to him and you didn't know how to deal with it!" she was gaping at him now.

"Well, yeah… something like that…" Harry trailed off. He didn't want to tell them it was only part of the problem, the other one being that he had just blurted Draco's name while Ginny was kissing him…

"Right, anyway," Hermione went on, "I didn't think about that at the time, no. I just thought that maybe it had to do with Malfoy not wanting to be taken for granted for what had happened during the war, to be given a chance to clean the slate and start afresh, just like you wanted people to treat you as if nothing special had happened… I thought that that's what you would have in common, not-" she paused. "Anyway, that's why I thought about getting him to talk to you."

"Well, it helped, Hermione, it really did! Maybe not in the way that you thought it would, but at least it helped me see that Draco was maybe... different from what we saw, because he is, when you get the chance to know him, he really is! He's funny, and interesting, and smart,"  _not to mention incredibly hot,_  Harry kept to himself. "And he keeps me grounded. He's never bought the hero-worshipping bullshit I get to deal with on a daily basis," he added with a shy smile.

"Right, okay. I- forgive me Harry, but I think I- I think I need time to come to terms with the… um, situation… it's one thing to suspect something is going on and another to have confirmation it really is happening," she looked at him with a fragile smile. "I'll be honest with you, Harry. I don't really like it, for one thing, you know what I think about him. Seven years of mutual... disliking, to say the least, won't be erased overnight, but… I'm glad you finally told me though."

"Thank you. I understand. You have no idea what that means to me."

"Are you... happy with him?" Hermione asked him.

Harry looked at them both. He felt once again so grateful for his two best friends to go over their own feelings to listen to him, to let him talk freely about what was happening to him, without judging his choices, but willing to understand as much as they could.

"I am," he finally answered, a huge grin on his face. "I'm thoroughly happy, God, you have no idea how happy I am! It's everything I had been waiting for, and more. It really is awesome, being..., you know..." and with these words, he looked at his boyfriend and smiled again, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, I think we know what you mean," Ron replied with a smile, leaning to place a kiss on Hermione's cheek.

"Right, this is all very well, boys, but being in love and all that shouldn't prevent us from studying for our N.E.W.T.s!" Harry and Ron exchanged an amused look. "So, better keep our heads screwed on and go back to work!" she opened the book again. "And don't even think of rolling your eyes as soon as I won't be looking at the two of you anymore," she added with a sly smile, "I know you!" The two boys laughed heartily, and hurried back to work as Madam Pince was walking dangerously closer.

* * *

 _Oh God, I never want this to stop!_  Harry was thinking, as he lay on Draco's bed, back arched, eyes rolled up in his head, Draco rubbing feverishly on top of him, as naked as he himself was, caressing him all over his body, running his hands and tongue on every inch of his skin, raising goose bumps everywhere contact was made.

Harry was thoroughly enjoying Draco's worshipping of his body, moaning loudly, his own hands caressing the soft skin of Draco's back, completely abandoned in his embrace. Their encounters had increased in intensity over the last few days and things were now rapidly heating up in Draco's bedroom: a simple touch on a particularly sensitive area brought what they were doing to a more serious level and soon Draco's strokes became more frantic.

Draco crushed his mouth hard on Harry's and took him in a heated kiss. Harry let out a whimper at the now familiar feeling and rapidly got lost in the kiss. He closed his eyes and wrapped his legs around Draco's body, bringing him even closer and revelling in his lover's touch, craving to get more. More touch, more contact and more of Draco everywhere.

That was when it hit Harry. That was when he realised he really did want more of Draco. He had been thinking about going all the way with his boyfriend for a while now, trying to imagine what it truly meant to be with another boy in that way. The whole idea was terribly scary but also strangely exciting at the same time, and it sent a jolt of arousal straight to his groin.

"God, Draco..." he broke the kiss and said, panting heavily, "More Draco... oh, please!"

" _Harry_..." Draco murmured, now buried deep in Harry's neck, rubbing his erection harder against his.

"Draco, I- I want to..."he said quickly before he could take the words back. "I'm ready... I- I want you…" 

Draco jerked his head up so quickly that Harry was afraid he would crack his neck.

"What?" he said in a breath, stopping dead in his tracks and searching Harry's eyes.

"I'm ready," Harry repeated more confidently this time. "I want to... make love with you..." Harry said, smiling nervously.

All the sexual tension that had been there a minute ago was instantly replaced by an eerie silence. Draco raised an eyebrow and considered Harry for a while. "You... you're sure about it?" he said softly, removing a strand of hair from Harry's eyes. "Because we don't have to... you know, rush things... I can still... wait, you know..."

"Yeah, I know, but I really want to... Draco, please," Harry said again softly, stroking Draco's cheek gently.

A wicked smile slowly formed on Draco's lips. "Well, no need to plead, Potter, you know perfectly well that I'd love to-"

"Then do it," Harry said bluntly, sounding more assured than he really was.

Draco considered him for a moment. "Okay..." and then he took Harry's mouth in a long, slow kiss. Harry instantly relaxed into it, but soon tensed again as a thought just crossed his mind.

"Wait..." he blurted, breaking the kiss abruptly, putting his hand on Draco's chest. "How do we... I mean, how do you... who's going to-"

"Top?" Harry nodded, biting his lower lip slightly. Draco looked at him for a while, as if choosing his words carefully. "Well... I don't usually bottom..." he stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh... okay," Harry swallowed hard. He felt something akin to panic rise from his toes, and spreading rapidly to the rest of his body. Oh god. If Draco was going to top, then that meant that... he knew what sex between men implied, but would he be able to do it? On the other hand, he didn't feel completely at ease with the idea to top either: what if he hurt Draco?

He felt Draco's fingers gently stroking his cheek as Draco eventually broke the silence. "I can always... I mean... I'd understand if you found it too much for a first time so, I can..." Draco trailed off.

Harry took a deep breath and looked again into Draco's eyes. To be completely honest, he was a bit worried at the idea of having, well, something up his backside, but it was also strangely exciting, something new that he realised he really wanted to try. And he wanted to do it with Draco,  _because_  it was Draco, and nobody else. He also wanted to show him how much he loved him, how much he cared about him, how much the boy meant to him, and abandoning himself like that to him, joining their bodies and souls together, was his way of expressing all the feelings he had developed for Draco over the last few weeks. Like he had told Draco, he was ready. He felt a thrill running through his spine at the thought that he was about to lose his virginity to a man.

"No, that's okay, I'll do it. I'll bottom."

* * *

Draco almost choked on his tongue and thought for a second he had not heard him properly.

"You- you'd do that?" he whispered,  _for me?_  he added in his head, completely bewildered at what Harry had just told him, a flow of strong emotions racing across his body.

Harry nodded.

Draco felt completely overwhelmed by the gesture. The boy had no idea what something like that meant to him. Sure, Harry wasn't the first one to give him his virginity. Draco had been Theo's first boyfriend as well, but it had been completely different. With Theo, Draco had had to talk the boy into doing it, to convince him it was a good idea, and it had taken a lot of persuasion, and a little bit of cunning on Draco's side to get there. Now, things were completely different.

That boy, that stupid Gryffindor boy, was going to willingly accept Draco inside him, for his first time? Draco shivered slightly at the thought of his own first sexual encounter. He had been fifteen, completely foolish and stupid enough to let himself be manipulated by the much older man who had known perfectly well how to act around a gullible young man to get what he wanted. The experience had been terrible and incredibly painful, and Draco had sworn to himself that he would never bottom again. And he had kept that promise.

He looked at Harry and, choosing his words carefully, finally said, "Right, I'll go very slowly. If there is anything, and I mean  _anything_  you don't like, or don't feel comfortable with, just tell me and I'll stop instantly, okay? I mean it, Harry," he added seriously, his voice slightly shaking with emotion.

Harry nodded again. "I will, Draco, I trust you." 

Draco looked at Harry like he was discovering him completely, and took him in another long kiss, delving his tongue inside his mouth, savouring the boy's taste, before breaking the kiss and looking into Harry's eyes. He then slowly started to work his way down, trying to recapture the atmosphere that had been in the room earlier on.

He took Harry's erection between his lips and started working on it. Soon, the boy was writhing under him, surrendering to the assaults of his willing mouth. Draco was sucking him with great care, wanting to do things well. He placed his right hand on Harry's bollocks, fondling them gently while still sucking him and holding his dick in his left hand. Harry was now moaning Draco's name repeatedly. He tensed slightly though, as Draco started trailing fingers lower beneath his balls, gently caressing the soft skin underneath.

Draco then lifted his head and looked up at Harry. "Ready?" he softly said.

Harry propped himself on his elbows and nodded his assent. Draco squirmed to reach his wand on the nightstand. He murmured a quick spell and his fingers were soon covered in slick liquid. Harry looked at him with great interest. Draco placed himself between Harry's legs, opening them gently. The boy closed his eyes and lay back down, his hands resting on the sheets beside him.

"I'm going to take it slow, don't worry, Harry," Draco murmured before delicately placing a finger on Harry's puckered entrance and starting to slowly rub it around. Harry let out a low moan at the touch. Draco then pressed his fingertip on the ring of muscles and applied pressure on it, before finally sliding one finger inside the tight opening. He heard Harry gasp at the intimate touch and Draco stilled his hand, letting Harry get used to the intrusion.

"Okay?" he asked softly. Harry nodded, eyes tightly shut. Draco leaned forward and started sucking on his cock again, his finger still buried deep inside of the boy. He felt Harry relax a bit and started moving his finger in and out. When he felt Harry was ready, he very carefully added a second finger. This time, Harry groaned beautifully and opened his legs wider, allowing him even better access. Draco pushed farther in, soon hitting the magic spot on Harry's prostate, making him jump a little and cry out his name.

"Oh,  _Draco_!"

Draco couldn't get enough of the way the boy was saying his name. He resumed his sucking on Harry's cock, syncing the movements of his mouth with those of his fingers, stretching his entrance and getting it ready for his dick. After a while, Draco slowly removed his fingers and lay on top of him, taking his mouth into another long and loving kiss, gently stroking his hair with his left hand. He broke the kiss, feeling Harry's hands on his back and looked deep into the boy's eyes.

"You ready?" 

"Yes. I am, Draco," he said, whispering the last word.

Draco smiled and placed a last quick peck on his lips before reaching for his wand again.

" _Lubricus!_ " Draco murmured with a quick flick of his wand, before discarding it on the bed. Draco's dick was soon covered in a slick and wet, protective liquid. He knelt between Harry's legs and took himself in hand. The sight of his boyfriend sprawled like that on the bed, completely abandoned, eyes filled with lust, was incredibly arousing, but Draco remained focused on what he was about to do. He lifted Harry's legs a bit, bending his knees, bringing the boy's feet closer to his body, and placed his cock at Harry's entrance. He then very carefully thrust forward, the head of his dick slowly breaching in, passing the tight ring of muscles.

He felt Harry tense instantly, and the boy shut his eyes, a frown soon forming on his beautiful face, his lips pinched tight. Draco froze, giving his boyfriend time to adjust to the intrusion. He gently stroke the boy's thighs with his fingers, and felt him relax a little.

"Okay," Harry muttered after a while, eyes still closed tightly. "Please, go on," he added in a breath.

Draco started thrusting forward again very slowly and, to his utter surprise, soon found himself completely buried inside Harry. The feeling was incredible. Draco let out a whimper and closed his eyes, revelling in the sensations of being inside Harry.

Harry was breathing raggedly now, and Draco knew he had to wait for him to be ready before he could move again. But he didn't mind one second. The whole thing was simply amazing. He was inside Harry. Harry Potter had let him put his whole dick up his arse and it felt simply brilliant. He opened his eyes and took the boy's slightly limp cock in his hand, and stroked it gently, slowly bringing it back to life.

After a while, Harry seemed to have got used to the feeling in his backside and to Draco's surprise, started to wriggle his hips against him, signalling him it was okay to move.

Draco leant forward and kissed him full on the lips, his forearms resting on either side of Harry's head, before he started moving again, never leaving his eyes. He was thrusting very slowly, pushing all the way in and then backing out slowly, before moving back in again, the tight muscles of his lover clenching deliciously around his dick. His mouth was on Harry's again, and Draco was placing delicate kisses against the boy's lips, murmuring sweet words of love and comfort while his hips rocked on top of him. It was the most erotic experience he had ever felt.

Harry suddenly arched his back and let out a small cry, and Draco knew he had hit his prostate again. The boy opened his legs wider, allowing Draco to thrust even deeper, to reach the sensitive spot over and over again. He was so fucking beautiful, completely abandoned into his arms like that, that Draco couldn't help wondering how on earth he could have hated the boy so much during all those years.

Harry then wrapped his legs around Draco, his hands running all over his back, clinging to him, and pressing their mouths together hungrily again and Draco didn't want to wonder about anything at all anymore. He just increased his pace again, encouraged by the beautiful sounds now escaping his lover's lips.

They started moving together more frantically, and Draco felt an unexpected rush of love for this incredibly brave boy. Yes,  _love._ As sappy as it sounded, that was what it was, love, threaded with many more things like care, intimacy, and understanding, because what they were doing now was way beyond sex, it wasn't something they were doing simply because they craved physical release, it was so much more than that! Those were real, deep feelings. They were literally  _making love_ , craving constant contact with the other, revelling on the skin to skin sensations it provided, and it overwhelmed Draco completely, so completely in fact, that without realising it, four little words escaped his lips.

"I love you, Harry" he said in a barely audible voice, but Harry had heard them, and was holding him tighter now, whispering in his ear, "I love you too, Draco," and Draco closed his eyes again, feeling perfectly at home in Harry's arms.

He knew he wouldn't last long now, but he wanted to wait for Harry, wishing them to come together. He opened his eyes and propped himself on his hands, and the new angle made Harry cry his name out beautifully again. Draco reached for the boy's cock once more. He grabbed it in his left hand and started stroking him hard, in unison with his thrusts. Harry was moaning loudly now, writhing under him, calling his name over and over again and suddenly, Draco felt him tense beneath him.

"Oh,  _Draco!_ " he cried out one last time, and came copiously in Draco's hand.

The sight of his boyfriend coming all over himself, calling his name like that, was suddenly too much, and Draco completely lost it. He thrust even faster and closed his eyes, focusing on the incredible sensations, feeling Harry holding him tight, and soon, that was it. He buried his face in Harry's shoulder as his climax rushed through him, a spectacular orgasm that started in his toes and seemed to rip his whole body apart. He emptied himself deep inside Harry, his body shuddering uncontrollably before he collapsed down onto the boy, completely wasted.

He slowly pulled out, grabbed his wand and performed a quick cleansing spell. They remained like that for a while, panting slightly, sweat cooling on their bodies, limbs tangled together, and hands ghosting over still sensitive skin. They slowly drifted off to sleep in each other's arms, feeling sated and knowing that things would definitely never be the same again between them.


	14. Ups and downs

Harry woke up feeling slightly disorientated. He wasn't in his bed, of that he was sure. And he wasn't alone. Draco was sprawled on his stomach, taking most of the bed and the covers, his arm across Harry's chest, looking completely peaceful and abandoned, his breathing steady. Harry smiled at the sight of his boyfriend being totally oblivious to his surroundings.

The memory of what they had done the previous night came back in a flash.

He had made love with Draco. Well, Draco had made love to him. He had lost his virginity to him. It was a weird thought in the grand scheme of things.

Draco Malfoy had made love to Harry Potter.

And Harry Potter had loved it.

He felt a thrill run through him as he recalled the sensations of the previous night. It had stung a bit at first, much more than he had thought it would, to be honest, but once he had got used to the feeling of being filled in that way, the whole thing had been simply amazing.

He didn't feel much different though, as he thought he might have. He had always imagined that losing your virginity was making you somewhat special, like you had suddenly been allowed to fully enter the grown-up world, leaving your childhood behind. But Harry had left his childhood behind long before last night, so he guessed it wasn't making much difference anyway.

He felt Draco stir next to him and turn on his back. He blinked a few times and opened his eyes. Harry propped himself on his elbow and smiled tenderly at his boyfriend before leaning in to kiss him.

"Morning…" Harry murmured.

"Mmmm..." replied Draco.

Harry chuckled softly. Apparently, Draco wasn't a morning person. He kissed him again, more intensely and this time, Draco answered more eagerly.

After a while, Harry broke the kiss, and sighed heavily.

"What's wrong?" asked Draco, frowning.

"Nothing… it's just that… two weeks without all of this is going to be pretty long," Harry said sadly. "Two long weeks, without seeing you, without touching, kissing, caressing, talking, laughing, or even hearing from you is going to be pure torture."

"Well, it's not like we have any choice, do we?" Draco replied, running his hand in Harry's hair.

"No, I know, but… isn't there any way that we could at least keep in touch?"

Draco propped himself on his elbow and they were now facing each other. "Well, what do you suggest? We can't owl each other, obviously…"

"Why not?"

"Oh, I'm sure my parents would be really impressed if I received love letters from The Chosen One!" Draco sneered.

"I take it that your parents don't know that you're gay."

"Are you crazy? My father would kill me if he knew!"

"Really?"

"No, not really, Potter, but he wouldn't like it, that's for sure. Do you have any idea how things work in pure-blood families?"

"Well, I-"

"Let me tell you something: in pure-blood families, people don't marry each other out of love. They marry for dynastic purposes. So as soon as I graduate from Hogwarts, Father will choose a good pure-blood witch and force me to marry her, AND sleep with her in order for me to produce an heir as soon as possible," he said flatly. "Just the idea of having to be naked with a woman is plainly repulsive," he added, a look of disgust on his face.

That wasn't surprising at all, but still, Harry couldn't help thinking about the pressure that was put on the children in those families. He certainly didn't envy neither their status nor their wealth, if it meant they couldn't be free to choose who to spend their life with.

"Well, that's not a very encouraging perspective," he said after a while.

"Nope, that's for sure," Draco answered bitterly.

Harry decided not to linger on too much on the subject.

"Anyway, too bad we can't stay here for Christmas this year…" he sighed again.

"Yeah... I don't see what reason I could possibly find to stay here rather than to spend Christmas with my family, especially after all that happened in the last few months."

"Yeah, same for me. It will be the first Christmas at the Burrow without Fred, so Mrs Weasley insisted that everyone be there. Even Hermione's parents are going to be with us."

Right after the war, Hermione had gone to Australia to return her parents' memories, cancelling the False Memory Charm she had cast them at the beginning of their search for the remaining Horcruxes. He knew she was particularly happy to be able to spend Christmas with her parents as well as Ron's family. Harry felt really glad that things had turned all right for her family.

"Well, so I guess we don't have any other choice, then," Harry said again.

"Nope, but until then, there are a few things I'd like to do to you so that you won't forget about me as soon as you leave the train…" Draco said saucily and kissed Harry hungrily, pushing him down on his back, and climbing on top of him.

The next couple of days went by more quickly than Harry would have liked. He tried to make the most of his last few days with Draco before the inevitable break, sleeping in his bed every night, and trying not to think too much about the upcoming separation.

* * *

The last weekend before the holidays was a Hogsmeade one. Ron, Hermione and Harry had had to put several layers of warm clothing under their robes, as well as hats, scarves and gloves to face the freezing cold and the swirling snow outside. The weather had changed dramatically over the last few days, and the beautiful clear wintery days they had had until the beginning of December were well and truly gone.

There were quite a lot of students on the road to Hogsmeade on this chilly Saturday morning. Like Harry, they hoped to be able to find the perfect presents for their dear ones. It was getting harder and harder for Harry to find something different for Ron and Hermione every year, and now that he had a boyfriend, he also had to find something for him. He had a few things on his mind for Draco, but he had no idea how the boy would react to any of them.

They decided to skip Zonko's, for it was packed, and Harry wasn't really keen on being squashed inside a shop while they could all go Christmas shopping at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in a few days. They headed straight to Honeydukes instead. The wonderful heat overcame them as soon as they had crossed the threshold. Harry was always impressed by the display of all the sweets and chocolates in the shop. They passed numerous overloaded shelves, went by the 'Unusual Tastes' section, before Harry finally stopped to look at different coloured boxes in the part devoted to chocolate. He grabbed a box of Honeydukes Best Chocolates and looked at it thoughtfully.

"Draco has a sweet tooth, hasn't he?" Harry jumped a little as Hermione squeezed up behind him and whispered the words in his ear.

Harry looked around nervously, but nobody was paying attention to them.

"Yeah, his mother sends him enormous boxes from Honeydukes every week! I wonder how he manages to stay fit with all the sweets he eats!" he grinned, blushing slightly.

"Hey, come and have a look at that!" Ron was standing a few feet away from them, next to a huge poster that must have been at least seven feet tall. Harry realised in horror that the poster was displaying three giant-size Chocolate Frog Cards, with a drawn portrait representing each one of them. The poster read, in huge bright colour-changing lettering:

 

AVAILABLE NOW!

NEW CHOCOLATE FROG CARDS

WITH YOUR FAVOURITE YOUNG WIZARDS!

HARRY POTTER – HERMIONE GRANGER – RON WEASLEY

COLLECT THEM ALL!

 

Harry's popularity had increased incredibly after the war, and there wasn't a week when he didn't make the front page in the Daily Prophet. Every time he ventured outside of Hogwarts, there were people coming to shake his hand, thank him warmly, ask him for his autograph or wanting to take pictures with him, which made him highly uncomfortable, although people were generally very nice to him. And now, that. Ron and Hermione had acquired their bit of fame as well, after a huge article in the Prophet that had insisted on the essential role they had played at his side. 

Ron was elated. "Isn't that brilliant! We are on Chocolate Frog Cards, Harry! Can't wait to see the look on everyone in the family when they find one with our faces on!" he was jumping around in excitement. "Too bad I can't buy a whole bunch of them to bring home!" He was ecstatic and Harry couldn't help laughing at his friend's enthusiasm.

"Well, let's buy a few anyway! I promise to give you all of my cards, if that makes you happy!" said Harry with an amused grin.

"Won't you want to keep them, Harry? I mean, it's huge, WE'RE ON THE CHOCOLATE FROG CARDS!"

"Nah, I'll be fine, don't worry. Don't really fancy seeing my face all over the fricking cards anyway." Ron looked at him like he was the most bizarre person he had met.

After that, Ron couldn't help boasting about it out loud, trying to catch the attention of the customers of Honeydukes, who curiously didn't seem that impressed by the fact that they were shopping in the same place as their "favourite young wizards".

They strolled about the shop for a while, and then headed for the till to pay for their purchases before they had to face the cold outside once again. There were so many people queuing there that Harry was almost willing to abandon all the sweets and chocolates he had chosen and leave the shop. But it was no use since his two friends were going to buy some anyway.

When it finally was Harry's turn, the lady at the till took hold of the box of Honeydukes Best Chocolates, and looked at Harry with a huge grin on her face.

"Well, good choice, these are lovely," she cooed. "May I ask who the lucky girl is?"

Harry cleared his throat and felt a flush coming to his face. "Well..."

"These are for my mother," Ron said, quickly coming to his rescue.

"Yeah, right." Harry looked down at his shoes.

"Oh," the look of disappointment was evident on the middle-aged witch's face, but Harry couldn't care less. He was very relieved when they finally exited the shop. The wind had increased in intensity, and the contrast with the stark heat from inside the shop was a bit overwhelming but he didn't care. He was glad they were done there.

"Right, Hog's Head now? I could use some peace and quiet, and a good Butterbeer to be honest," he said flatly.

"Yes, let's do that. It'd be good to see Aberforth as well," added Hermione.

They were just a few feet away from Honeydukes when they caught sight of Draco, Blaise and Pansy coming their way, apparently willing to purchase some sweets as well. Harry and Draco shared a knowing look, and then went their ways.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were half-way to the Hog's Head, a bit higher up on the street, when they heard people arguing quite loudly behind them. They turned around at once, only to see Draco, Blaise and Pansy outside of the Honeydukes' entrance talking in animated voices with a burly small woman.

"What the-" started Ron. The three of them rapidly took the scene in. A crowd of people was already gathering in front of the shop, eager to witness the show that was promising to be rather interesting.

"We don't want you in here, just go away, now!" the woman was yelling at Draco, gesturing for him to leave.

"Hey, we're not here to cause any trouble, woman, we just want to do a little bit of shopping!" Blaise answered in an indignant tone.

"Well you can come and shop all right," the woman said, designating Blaise and Pansy, "but we certainly don't want any of  _his_  sort in our shop," she spat, pointing at Draco.

Harry paled at the woman's harsh words.

She didn't want Draco inside her shop.

Because he had been a Death Eater.

Shit.

Without thinking, he started to move forward but was stopped by Hermione who stood in front of him, both hands on his chest.

"Harry, you can't go down there," she said gently.

"Why not? Did you hear what she just said to him?" he snapped.

"Yes, I did. But there's nothing you can do, Harry. What are you going to do anyway? Hex her? That's the best thing to do if you want everyone to know about the two of you. Besides, he's a big boy. He can stand for himself."

Harry sighed. Hermione was right. He looked down at her for a second and she smiled feebly at him. He quickly looked back at Draco, waiting for his boyfriend's reaction. From where he stood, Harry could see the look of deep hurt on Draco's face and the struggle that seemed to take place inside his head.

"Fine," Draco simply said after a while, and turned to leave. Pansy and Blaise hesitated for one second, before sending a dark look at the woman and leaving with Draco.

"That's right, go away! And don't ever come back! We don't want to have anything to do with scum of your type!" the woman said loudly once more and slammed the door, making the little bell of the shop tinkle furiously.

There was a murmur in the crowd, as Draco tried to make his way through it. Harry watched in dismay as some people started pushing and insulting Draco who said nothing, but kept his fist and jaw clenched tightly. Harry felt anger creep inside of him as he helplessly witnessed his boyfriend braving the now hostile crowd and going back to the Castle as fast as he could. Draco must have felt Harry's gaze since he looked up briefly at him before turning his attention back to the Castle, Pansy and Blaise on his heels.

Harry felt Hermione gently take him away.

"Come, it's over now."

"Those bastards!" Harry seethed.

"Hey, that's all right, mate, he-" Ron started.

"All right? All right?" Harry's face was red with anger now. "How can this be all right to you? Did you see the look on his face? Did you see the way they treated him? Like he was worth nothing?" he shouted.

"Harry… " Hermione said feebly.

Harry stared at Ron who remained silent and finally said. "Right, of course you wouldn't understand. You agree with them. You wished he would just disappear from your sight once and for all, " he spat angrily.

"HARRY!" Hermione was looking at him with a shocked expression on her face.

"No, that's fine, Hermione, he's right," Ron replied quietly, looking into his eyes defiantly. "I don't like him. Never did. And it's not because you're head over heels in love with him that we should all forget what he did. I certainly won't," and with that, he turned away, going back from where they had come.

"Oh no, not again, Ron!" Hermione called.

"That's fine, Hermione, go with him. I'll catch with you later," Harry told her.

"Harry-"

"Go! I'll be fine, don't worry!"

"Right. Talk to you later," she placed a quick peck on his cheek and went after her boyfriend.

Harry followed her with his eyes. Shit. He had been a fool to think that people would be able to see past what Draco had been. Of course they wouldn't! He represented all the pain they had been through during the war. They didn't care that Draco had only been a boy, they didn't care that he had been forced to take the Mark, they didn't care that he had helped them, he had to pay. And since all the Death Eaters had either been arrested or had disappeared abroad, everybody was now turning against the only ones who remained. And in that regard, the Malfoys were easy targets.

He wished people could see Draco the way Harry saw him, but he knew it was hopeless. Even his best friend wouldn't understand. And the worst was that he couldn't even blame all these people who had suffered so much during the war and who still mourned their dead.

Harry sighed heavily. After what had just happened, he didn't feel like strolling around Hogsmeade anymore. He decided to go back to the Castle and check on Draco. Harry couldn't help thinking that he could, no, that he  _should_  have done something for him. But he hadn't. He had left his boyfriend deal with an angry crowd. Shit.

* * *

Draco was still fuming when he entered the common room. It was empty of course, since the rest of the eighth year students were still in Hogsmeade. It was still pretty early after all.

He hastily removed his cloak, gloves and scarf and threw them on a chair nearby. It wasn't the first time he had been thrown out of a shop like that, hell, no, it had happened more than once over the summer. But what he had not liked at all, was that Harry had witnessed the whole scene. He knew that the boy wouldn't be easily put off by something like that, especially after the talk they had had in the Quidditch changing rooms the other day, but still. They was always a possibility for him to freak out and change his mind, once confronted to what it truly meant to be with someone like him.

Draco turned to Blaise and Pansy who had accompanied him back here.

"I'm going to be fine, go back there, you two, no need to babysit me," Draco said to them. He was grateful for them to have stuck around with him but now, he just wanted to be alone for a while.

He slumped heavily in his favourite sofa, the one facing the fireplace and sat back, placing his hands under his head and putting his feet on the coffee table, intending to show them he hadn't been affected by the whole thing.

"You sure you're going to be all right, Draco?" Pansy said hesitantly. 

"Do I look like I'm six, Pansy?" he sent her a dark look. "I'm certainly not going to break down and cry over a bunch of morons. You two just go," he added with a dismissing gesture.

"Right, come on, Pansy," said Blaise, reaching for her elbow. At that moment, they heard someone come through the portrait of the Silver Knight.

Draco turned his head and saw Harry walking to him, his cloak on his arm, a worried look on his face. Great. Draco sighed and looked back at the fire that was blazing in the fireplace.

He heard Harry go past Blaise and Pansy and he was soon standing next to him. He swiftly pulled his cloak away, along with his scarf and gloves, and looked down at him. Draco sighed, and removed his feet from the coffee table, making room for Harry on the couch. The boy sat next to him and turned to Pansy and Blaise, looking hesitant. He then faced Draco again and placed a tentative hand behind his head, before pulling him gently closer to him, and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

Blaise cleared his throat. "Pansy? Time to go, now!" he said, grabbing her by her arm.

Pansy freed herself from his grip and sent Blaise a dark look, before turning to Draco again. "You're gonna be all right, Draco?" she said, a concerned look on her face. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow, before closing his eyes and kissing Harry again.

"He's gonna be fine, now come!" Blaise retorted impatiently.

"Right. See you later, Draco," she said and followed Blaise out of the room.

Once they were gone, Harry came to sit on Draco's lap, his legs resting on either side of Draco's on the couch, straddling his thighs. Draco leaned forward to kiss Harry, sliding his arms around the boy's waist to bring him closer, but soon Harry broke the kiss and placed two fingers on his lips.

"Talk to me, Draco, please," he gently murmured against Draco's lips.

Draco sighed and looked at him, removing a strand of hair from his eyes. "I'm fine. It was nothing. Just a bunch of idiots. I've had worse."

"Does that happen often?" Harry said softly.

"What do you think?" Draco quipped. "It happens all the time! This summer, Mother and I couldn't walk into Diagon Alley without having at least one person insulting or hexing us," he said bitterly. "We ended up not leaving the Manor at all after a while."

"Shit."

"And you thought you had a hard time with all your adoring fans asking for autographs? Well, at least they have good intentions!" Draco snarled.

"Draco-"

"Right, forget it. It wasn't even that bad." He quickly changed the subject. "You left your friends over there?"

"What? Oh, no… they…" Harry said evasively.

"What? What happened?" Draco frowned sitting upward, Harry still firmly settled on his lap. Harry looked down at his hands. "Oh great. You had a fight with them," he said rolling his eyes.

"Just with Ron," Harry said flatly.

Draco sighed and brought Harry closer, leaning down again and taking Harry's face in his hands, his thumbs gently stroking his cheeks.

"Why? What did he say?"

"Nothing, really. Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course, I am! It takes more than a couple of bastards to unsettle a Malfoy!" he sneered. "But tell me, what happened with the- with Weasley?"

Harry sighed. "I… I shouted at him and he left."

"Because of me?"

"Yes, but it's okay, really-"

"No, it's not," Draco snapped again. "What happens to me shouldn't affect you in any way. Now go and find Weasley and patch things up!"

"What? But you don't even know-"

"Let me guess: you were angry because of what had happened, so you yelled at him and he said something hurtful about me to you, am I right?"

"Well, yeah…" Harry shrugged.

Draco rolled his eyes. "God, you and your friends are so predictable," he cupped Harry's chin and kissed him again. "Now stop worrying for me, and go find your friend. It's your last year here for Merlin's sake, and you're supposed to spend Christmas at his parents', so go now!"

Harry sighed and held him tight, his head resting on his shoulder. Draco could feel his warm breath against his neck and it felt really nice. He closed his eyes. He then felt Harry trailing kisses along his jawline and the boy soon had his lips on his. They kissed more languorously this time. Harry was now grinding his hips against Draco's who let out a low moan. Draco ran his hands all over his boyfriend's back, before moving lower to cup his arse. He felt Harry push against his hands and Draco reluctantly broke the kiss. They were both panting slightly and Harry looked thoroughly flushed.

"You should go now, before I change my mind and ravish you right here on this couch," he said, his voice slightly hoarse.

Harry blushed a little at his boyfriend's crude words. "Well, that could prove interesting if one of our friends decided to come back here sooner than they had planned," he replied with a wicked grin.

Draco kissed him again. "Go."

"Okay," Harry said, before standing up. "I'll see you tonight."

"I certainly hope so."

Harry smiled and leaned forward one more time. He kissed Draco again and murmured a sweet "love you" against his lips that warmed Draco's heart. He smiled as he watched Harry leave the common room and resumed his former position on the couch, hands beneath his head and feet on the coffee table. He closed his eyes, a smile on his lips.

"Love you too, Harry," he whispered.

* * *

Harry found Ron and Hermione at the Hog's Head like he had thought they would be. As usual, the place was nearly empty. Aberforth was standing by their table, talking to them.

"Well, hello, boy," Aberforth greeted him.

"Hi." Harry looked at Ron, trying to show him he was coming to make peace with him.

"Butterbeer, Harry?" 

"Yes, please, that's perfect, thanks."

Aberforth went to get the drink and Harry stood by Ron and Hermione's table.

"Look-"

"Listen-"

Ron and Harry had spoken simultaneously.

"Go ahead," said Ron.

Harry came to sit next to Hermione, facing Ron.

"Right, Ron, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I… I overreacted and, well, anyway, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that."

"That's okay, mate. I shouldn't have told you what I said. I mean… it's true that I don't like him, but… anyway, sorry, mate."

"Great! Happy to see you two finally come back to your senses!" Hermione said with a grin.

Aberforth came back with the Butterbeer and Harry started to relax a little, leaning back in his seat.

"So, how's the… how is he, then?" said Ron, obviously making an effort to show Harry he really wanted to make things right between them.

"He's fine. Wasn't the first time it happened to him, though. Apparently, his mother and he got the same treatment in Diagon Alley over the summer," Harry said sadly.

"Well…"

"That's fine. I mean, I can get why people would be mad at him, but… it's hard when it happens to someone you…" Harry trailed off.

"Love?" Hermione provided and Harry saw Ron wince at the word.

"Well, yeah…"

"Right." She seemed to be looking for the right words. "It looks pretty serious between the two of you," she finally said, looking into his eyes.

"Well, yeah, I mean, we got to be… well, we're getting pretty close, yeah…" Harry felt himself blushing at the thought of what they had been doing in the last couple of days. "We… talk, a lot, about many things, everything really, and I can feel him opening to me, and it feels good, to see him really trust me with his… feelings, I never thought he would, but he does…"

"Well, it's good that he trusts you," Hermione replied.

Ron snorted.

"What? What did I say?" Hermione frowned slightly at him.

"No, it's not that, it's just that… can you believe we're actually talking about _Malfoy_ , here? Doesn't it sound slightly awkward to you?" he said, with an expression of utter disbelief on his face.

Harry smiled. "True. I'm the most surprised here. If anyone had told me I would end up having sex with Dra-" Harry was interrupted by Ron who had spluttered Butterbeer all over the table, and was coughing heavily now. Oh God, Harry was mortified. Why the hell had he blurted something like that?

"Ron! Are you alright?" Hermione asked worryingly. She stood and rounded the table to tap gently on her boyfriend's back, who was slowly breathing normally again. Harry turned to Aberforth to tell him that everything was okay while Hermione sat back next to him.

"Sorry, that was a bit too much information, I guess," he said, chuckling nervously.

Hermione started laughing as well, and she brought her hand to her mouth, a flush creeping up her neck.

They remained in the Hog's Head for a while, enjoying the time spent together, before returning to the Castle.


	15. Coming out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Right, in this chapter, I had to express a character’s point of view about homosexuality. It is full of clichés and nasty things one can unfortunately hear on homosexuals on a regular basis. These are clearly NOT my views on the subject, but I needed to get this character’s view on things for the sake of the plot. This wasn’t, in any case, meant to offend anyone. I firmly condemn any form of discrimination.

The day after, they were all set to leave. As they climbed on the Hogwarts Express with their friends, Harry's heart was sinking. Draco and he had agreed to meet one last time in an empty compartment, and that's exactly what they did. They kissed and held each other tight, trying to memorize the way the other tasted and smelled, to imprint these memories enough to last the two weeks. They parted with difficulty, and after one last look, Draco was gone, and Harry sighed heavily, before joining his friends.

When they finally arrived at King's Cross Station, Harry, Ron and Hermione were greeted by Mr and Mrs Weasley. Harry desperately searched the crowd for Draco. He found him already with his parents, and after one last look, let himself being held up tight in Mrs Weasley's strong embrace.

He was quiet all the way to the Burrow. He couldn't stop thinking about Draco, about where he must be, what he must be doing, and they had only been separated for an hour! Harry sighed heavily again at the thought of not seeing him for two, long, fricking weeks.

He had already made up his mind concerning his coming out to Ron's family. He felt he kind of owed them an explanation about why Ginny and him weren't together anymore. Mr and Mrs Weasley knew they had broken up, since Ginny had told them, although she had not explained why, at Harry's request.

Later that evening, he found Mrs Weasley in the kitchen, getting ready for the first huge meal of the Holidays. Everybody had not arrived yet, so for now there would only be Ron, Hermione, Charlie, Bill and a very pregnant Fleur. The rest of the family, as well as Hermione's parents, would gradually join them in the few days before Christmas.

Mrs Weasley was standing by the sink, peeling an impressive amount of potatoes. Harry proceeded to grab one, but she gently slapped him on his wrist.

"Hey, that's my job, dear, don't you take that away from me!" she said affectionately. "I know what you're thinking. Why is she not using magic to peel them all?"

Harry smiled. "Well..."

"I like doing it the Muggle way," she explained. "You see, it allows me to take time to think about many things, and as weird as it may sound, it kind of soothes me," she added with a smile, before resuming her work.

Harry leaned against the countertop, watching her peel the potatoes with impressive dexterity.

Without even looking up, Mrs Weasley quietly said, "Are you going to tell me what is bothering you, Harry?"

Shit. Was he always that obvious to people?

"Well… I wanted to thank you for having me here, even if Ginny and I are no longer together," he said with a weak smile.

Mrs Weasley stopped at once, her hands resting on the edge of the sink, half-peeled potato in one hand, knife in the other, and looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"Harry! Of course we would have you anyway! What happened between Ginny and yourself is absolutely none of our business. Of course, it would have been wonderful if it had worked between you two, but you're part of the family, no matter what, Harry, and you should know that!" she added, attacking the potato again.

Harry remained silent, thinking hard about what he wanted to say next. The Weasleys were family to him, and coming out to Ron's mother was, he supposed, like coming out to his own mum. He felt so utterly nervous that he was fidgeting uncontrollably. He had talked to Ron and Hermione about telling Ron's family, and they had encouraged him to do so, but he still found it hard nonetheless.

"Harry, what is wrong?" Mrs Weasley finally asked again.

"Nothing's wrong, Mrs Weasley, it's just… There's this thing that I'd like you to know about me, and I just… I just don't know how to say it, I…" Harry trailed off.

Mrs Weasley put the potatoes down, wiped her hands on her apron, and took Harry's face in both of her hands.

"Harry, I may not necessarily always agree with what you say or do, but it won't make a difference to what I think about you, okay?" She dropped her hands and waited for Harry to speak again.

Harry nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Right, I'm… the reason I broke up with Ginny is because… I'm- I'm gay." He found it was getting easier to say the words out loud. After all, it was the third time he was telling somebody.

Mrs Weasley took a strand of hair off her forehead with her wrist, and looked deep into Harry's eyes for a while. He was so nervous that he thought he would faint right here and then. After what felt like hours, she finally took him in her arms and held him tight. She murmured. "Thank you, Harry, for telling me. Like I told you, it doesn't make any difference to me."

He put his arms around her waist, his head resting on her shoulder and let out a deep breath, feeling incredibly relieved. After a moment, she pulled back and looked at him again.

"I just hope you'll be happy, Harry. Once again, you're not choosing an easy path." Harry wanted to tell her that he hadn't chosen anything, but said nothing.

"Have you… is there someone special in your life, then?" she smiled gently.

"Well, yes, there is. I have a boyfriend." He didn't know why he felt stupidly proud about that fact.

Mrs Weasley squinted her eyes. "Somebody I know?"

"Well… yes, he's er, well, you're not gonna like it…" he could feel his cheeks slightly turn red. He was very afraid of Mrs Weasley's reaction at that point. The Malfoys and the Weasleys weren't exactly the best of friends, to say the least. Bill had been mauled by Greyback and would never look the same again  _because_  of Draco who had let a whole bunch of Death Eaters inside the castle a couple of years ago. And Lucius Malfoy had almost got Ginny killed during her first year. The list could go on and on regarding the Malfoys and the Weasleys' antagonisms.

Mrs Weasley frowned slightly. "Oh, well, I'm sure I can handle it, honey," she assured him.

"It's Draco Malfoy," Harry blurted.

"Oh!" She looked up at Harry, a clearly surprised expression on her face. "Well, this is most… unexpected, to say the least."

"Yeah, I know… he's just…" Harry was desperately trying to find the right words but shit, that was hard. "I know he did terrible things and I know what you think about his family but-"

"What we think about his family is not important, Harry," she cut in. "And yes, he has done very bad things indeed." She paused and took his hands in hers, looking deep into his eyes. "But, I trust your judgment and I trust you. Love, and sometimes lust, can blur the way we see things, but so far your instincts have guided you well, Harry and you probably know him better than any of us… so if you're in love with him, well that must mean he's a good person. I couldn't see you fall for the wrong kind."

Harry felt the tears come up in his eyes and bit his lower lip. He then threw his arms around Mrs Weasley's waist. She looked pretty surprised by the gesture, but returned it nonetheless.

"Thank you," Harry murmured, closing his eyes.

"You're very welcome, love."

* * *

 

The two boys experienced two very different Christmases.

Christmas at the Burrow was messy, and chatty, full of laughter and jokes, and emotions as well, when everybody remembered those who had died during the war, serious faces dimly lit by the candles scattered around the room.

Christmas at Malfoy Manor was pompous, and silent, full of things unsaid and utter boredom.

Presents were exchanged with glee at the Burrow, with lots of exclamations, cries of surprise, traditional knitted sweaters and a rather abusive use of adjectives.

Presents were exchanged with great formality at the Manor, with no inappropriate effusion or nonsense whatsoever, and very few words.

But when the two boys went to bed that night, Draco in his huge four-poster bed, Harry on his camp bed in Ron's bedroom, their last thought was for the other, as Draco quietly murmured "Merry Christmas, Harry" and Harry, miles away, answered him, "Merry Christmas, Draco."

* * *

 

The day after, Draco was making his way to the Dining Room of the Manor, as dinner was about to be served. After all that had happened in the Drawing Room last year, when Voldemort had, amongst other things, coldly murdered Charity Burbage before their eyes, the Malfoys had decided not to use it anymore. They were now taking their meals in the more formal Dining Room.

It was an impressive room. It held a huge ornate table that had been in the family for generations and which could sit at least twenty people. In the middle of the room stood an enormous fireplace, inside of which a standing man could easily fit. Above the fireplace was a gilded mirror that was probably Draco's size. On the walls were numerous portraits of different generations of Malfoys, including Draco's grandfather, Abraxas.

Draco made his way to the table and suddenly froze. Through one of the windows of the huge Dining Room, he could see his father walking someone back. Someone Draco knew pretty well.

A frail Slytherin boy.

Theo.

Shit.

What had he been doing here? Draco tried to rationalise things: after all, Theo had spent quite an amount of time at the manor over the summer, and it would make sense for him to go and pay his respects to his parents. But Draco couldn't help feeling nervous about the whole thing anyway, especially after Theo's promise to get back to him.

He stood by his chair and greeted his mother when she entered the room. They had never ever traded places over the years. His father would always sit at the end of the table, of course, his mother on his left and Draco on his right, facing her. The only times it had changed was when Voldemort and his clique had been around. Draco suppressed the thought with a shiver of disgust.

He relaxed a little when his father joined them. His face was rather expressionless, although Draco had learned not to put too much into that kind of fact. He knew his father was capable of hiding his feelings pretty well when the situation asked for it.

They ate in silence, like they were used to. Draco had long ago learned to only speak when someone directly addressed him. It occurred to him that even though he was now technically an adult, he very much remained his parents' child.

At the end of the meal, his father finally opened his mouth. "Draco, you will join me in my study right after dinner." It always was like that with Father. It was no request. It was a command.

"Very well, Father," Draco replied respectfully. His mind started to race furiously. What would his father want to talk to him about? Did it have anything to do with Theo's presence earlier? The last time Draco and him had talked, the boy had uttered threats. Had Theo outed him to his father? Was that what it was all about? Draco braced himself and decided to take things as they come. He wouldn't hide anything. After all, he was eighteen now. Time to act like a grown-up.

As soon as the meal was over, Draco followed his father in his study. He was about to know.

* * *

 

"Come, Draco, and please shut the door behind you," Lucius said, walking to the desk that had been in the family for generations. "Please take a seat, will you?"

Draco hastily sat in one of the two comfortable French armchairs facing him. The boy looked rather nervous, although he was trying hard to hide it, like Lucius had taught him. Very good.

"Son, I wanted to discuss your studies, and your prospects for the years to come, once you've graduated from Hogwarts," Lucius started.

The boy remained silent. Lucius grabbed a parchment that was sitting on his desk, put his spectacles on, and started skimming through it.

"I can see that you are working hard, if I am to believe the grades you have already acquired, and I can only congratulate you on that. I am delighted to note that you are taking your studies seriously and not letting mere distractions get to you. That is very well, my son."

Draco nodded slightly.

"However, it was somehow brought to my attention that lately, you have been engaging in, let's say, rather inconsiderate behaviour, regarding your personal affairs," Lucius added coldly, peering at his son above his spectacles, leaning forward on his desk. He was satisfied to see a glimpse of panic in his son's eyes.

"Father-"

"You have not been allowed to speak yet, Draco," Lucius cut him dryly. "So, before we move on, I need to know if the information I received is true. Are you indulging in, let's say," he cleared his throat, "inappropriate activities with other males? You may speak."

"It's Theo isn't it? Theo told you that?" Draco replied. He was visibly very unhappy about that fact.

"It doesn't matter who told me, Draco, and it is not the question I have asked you, although you not denying it already provides me with an answer of sorts," he paused. "You would be very well advised to answer me properly now, Draco. Are you a... homosexual?" Lucius had a hard time pronouncing the last word, and couldn't contain an expression of disgust on his face.

Draco sighed and looked deep into his eyes, with somehow a bit of defiance in his gaze. Well, it made sense, he was still pretty young after all. He would learn to be more flexible with time.

"Yes, Father, I'm gay," he said, trying to hide the quiver in his voice, but Lucius knew better.

He leaned back, removed his glasses and distractingly bit the end of one of his spectacles' arms. His mind was racing as he peered outside the window into the beautiful garden.

He had always known that it was a possibility, of course, that it could happen to his family, but he had been somewhat reassured when Draco had shown no signs of this kind of disturbing behaviour. His son wasn't effeminate in the slightest, he had never showed any inclination to want to wear his mother's dresses or make-up… Lucius had even thought that he was romantically involved with the Parkinson girl at some point.

No, really, nothing could have prepared him for such a revelation. If the Nott boy hadn't told him about Draco, Lucius would probably never have found out. He remembered with a shiver what had happened to the Fawleys. This renowned pure-blood family had been completely banned from society after their son had been discovered in a rather inappropriate position with another man. How Lucius had laughed with his friends about that family's misfortune! 

But now that he was confronted with it in his own family, he didn't really know how to deal with it. He has been surprised, and very disappointed to be honest, to hear that his only son was… like that, that he was somewhat  _flawed_. How was it possible that his son, his only son, could be a sodomite? What had they done to have a son like that? Narcissa and him certainly hadn't deserved it. They had always done their best to provide their only son with the best education, the best clothes, the best company… When had everything gone so wrong? He sighed. Whatever they may or may not have done properly, it certainly couldn't remain this way. He could not, no, he  _would_  not, accept it. Never.

First, it was an utterly repulsing thing. The whole idea of two men doing… whatever they were doing in bed was disgusting him to the highest degree. Surely, one couldn't be considered a real man and show so much weakness in the act. And how could a man not see the beauty that lay in women? Their beautiful, fine features, the curve of their hips, of their breasts, their soft skin… How could any male not be attracted to that and worse, find another man's body attractive in that way?

Second, it would definitely be the shame of the family, and probably the end of it. The Malfoys had already fallen very low, and they were very lucky to have been able to remain free – thanks to Lucius's skills at talking his way out of any situation - and to keep all of their possessions, including the Manor. Possessions that were supposed to go to their one and only child, the heir of the Malfoy's fortune. But once everybody would know about his son's proclivities, it would be the end of them.

They would be mere outcasts. Banned from society forever. Having a son like that was, in a way, much worse than sending his old friends to Azkaban; the latter was, after all, considered part of the political game, and Lucius knew his treason would be forgiven at some point. But as crazy as it sounded, people would not forgive them for having a deviant son. Their name would be stained forever, and people would laugh at them, like Lucius had done with the Fawleys.

And last but not least, the Malfoy bloodline would become extinct. There would be no more heir. Because of Draco's unwillingness to comply with normalcy, he wouldn't reproduce. And that was plainly unacceptable.

No, Lucius could definitely not accept something like that. His son had to change. It probably was just a phase anyway. Yes, that was it. Just a stupid phase. Lucius had known about other men who had gone down this road, before marrying and having children. Yes, that's what Draco would do. He would have to listen to him and stop fooling around at one point. He would have to marry a woman and have children, whether he liked it or not. Lucius would never give in. Draco had to change his ways.

After what felt like hours, he looked back at his son and finally said, "Well, Draco, surely you can't be… like that. It is not normal, and I must say I am utterly disappointed by your behaviour. Although I am certain that what you do is part of the… experiment certain young men like to indulge in, to… relieve stress or whatever reason they might have. You have been put under a lot of pressure with firstly the war, and now your studies, but you must be aware that this  _phase_ , should stop early enough for you to marry a woman. I am willing to close my eyes on this doubtful behaviour, provided you put an end to it very soon. I will personally start the search for the perfect wife for you, so that you can marry as soon as you graduate from Hogwarts."

Lucius saw Draco blanch at his words, but he quickly regained composure.

"It is not a phase, Father. I like boys, I always have and I always will. I've been like that my whole life, and it is not going to change because you've decided it." Draco's face was flushed and his hands were clenching the arms of the chair tightly. Lucius was rather surprised by the determination in his son's voice.

"Draco, whatever you think has no importance whatsoever. You will marry a woman or-"

"Or what, Father? You will disown me? You wouldn't do that. Even you know that I'm about the only chance you have for the Malfoy name to shine into society again," Draco spat.

Lucius was taken aback by his son's reactions. The boy had always listened to him and showed the utmost respect. Things were changing fast. Lucius tried to remain calm.

"Draco, you are not to interrupt your father in any fashion," he said in an even, albeit slightly menacing voice. "You will do as you are told, or else, you  _will_  be disowned. It would break my heart, and your poor mother's, but if it has to be done, then so be it. I won't allow you to stain our name for the sake of you having fun. I'm afraid that political matters go before your personal interests."

"So that's it? I have to... to  _sacrifice_  my life for the sake of... of the political game?" Draco asked in a slightly high-pitched voice.

"Draco, we all have to make choices and sacrifices in life. I had to make mine. That is part of becoming a man, son."

"And what if I refuse, Father? What if I don't want to?" Draco said defiantly. "Are you really going to force me into some arranged marriage against my will?"

"Draco, my son, you know that your happiness matters to me. And I wouldn't do that if I wasn't sincerely convinced that you can find such happiness in the arms of a woman. Why don't you at least give it a try?"

"I don't want to give it a try, Father! I can't be with a woman! I'm gay! I sleep with boys!" he blurted. He seemed to have completely lost his cool.

Lucius swallowed with difficulty and tried very hard not to show the disgust his son's words inspired him. He closed his eyes, trying to block the pictures of his son in bed with another man. He opened his eyes again, more determined than ever to talk some sense into his stubborn son.

"Well, maybe it is time for you to try something different," he sighed, wanting to show he was slowly losing patience. He reckoned it was a good time to make slight concessions, though. "Draco, I don't care about where your inclinations take you. You can indulge in whatever activity you want with whomever you want as long as you don't make it public and ultimately marry a woman and produce an heir. And so, you will. End of the discussion. You may leave, now."

"But-"

"Now," Lucius said coldly.

Draco sighed and hastily left the room, a murderous look on his face. Salazar! Why was it so hard to educate a young man these days? Lucius thought with regret of old times, when his son would look at him with nothing but awe and the deepest admiration in his eyes.

Oh well, it would pass. He hoped his words would at least help his son see reason. If it weren't the case, he would probably have to resort to more drastic measures.

* * *

 

Draco was pissed off as he walked out of his father's study. And at the same time, he was quite surprised at the way his father had reacted. True, he had asked him to give up on boys and marry a woman, but Draco hadn't expected less of him. On the contrary, he would have been utterly surprised if his father hadn't said anything along those lines. So, in the end, it could have been worse. But still. He had been hurt by the clear disgust on his father's face when Draco had confirmed he was gay. Why wouldn't some people understand that being gay wasn't a shameful disease that should be hidden from view, and that the person they chose to sleep with didn't change who they were deep inside?

So, Draco was angry. He was angry at his father for having such bigoted views on the world. He was angry at Society for considering his preference as something shameful and dirty. But most of all, he was angry at Theo for having spilled the beans to his father. The fucking bastard. He would make him pay dearly for that.

In amongst all those angry feelings, Draco felt rather relieved about one point. Apparently, his father - and Theo - didn't know about Harry. Their secret was still safe at the moment. Draco would have to make sure it remained this way, because if his father happened to learn about his son and the Chosen One, the shit would quickly hit the fan.

As he was walking the long, dark corridor leading to the other wing of the Manor, and to his bedroom, he stopped at once. He had to go and see his mother. Yes, that was right. He had to tell his mother he was gay himself before his father ever did. He felt like he owed her that. He swiftly turned back and went to look for her.

He found her in her own private sitting room. He took a moment to observe her through the glass of the double French doors leading to the cosy room. It had always been his mother's favourite room in the Manor, her refuge during hard times. She was drinking her tea, comfortably installed amongst cushions of various sorts on the couch. She looked frail and fragile, but Draco knew better. His mother had a strong personality. She was a Black after all, and had married a Malfoy. She could not have survived in both families had she been nothing but confident and determined. And she had proven more recently so that she was also a brave woman, daring to lie in Voldemort's face in order to find – and save - her only child.

Draco had always admired her, and had always had a strong connection to his mother. He may have his father's looks, but inside, he was very much like her, although he probably wasn't as strong and bold. But one thing was certain: he didn't want to disappoint her. He sighed when he entered the room at the thought that he might be about to do just that.

His mother turned around and smiled at him.

"Well, Draco, you came to spend time with your mother?" she smiled.

"Yes, Mother," he smiled back and came to sit right next to her on the couch.

"Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you, Mother."

"So, is everything all right, darling?"

"Yes, Mother, everything is just fine." Such blatant lie, Draco thought, but they always kept things on the surface, never getting to the bottom of them. That was the way it worked in the Malfoy family. Draco knew his mother wouldn't look past what he was telling her. She was not the inquisitive type.

"Very good, then."

"Mother, there is something that I would very much like you to know, though. Something that has been brought to Father's attention regarding my personal affairs, and that I would very much like to tell you myself."

She looked in his eyes and blinked slightly. "Very well, Draco, what is it?"

That was it. The moment of truth. Draco felt his hands getting sweatier by the minute. God, this was hard! How could he tell something so personal to his mother? What if she didn't love him anymore after that? What if she wanted him out of the house? What if she rejected him? He didn't think he could handle that. His father's rejection, Draco could handle. It would hurt him deep, but he could deal with it. But his mother's? He started to think that it was a terrible idea, and started to regret having decided to come out to her. But he didn't have much choice now, did he? All of that because of bloody Theo who had decided he couldn't keep his mouth shut and vowed to make his life miserable. He regretted to have given in to the boy over the summer. God, things would have been so much easier had he stuck to his rule of not dating anyone from Hogwarts! Well, he supposed that this stupid rule didn't make much sense in regard to his relationship with Harry anyway.

"Draco?" his mother interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, Mother. Well, I…" His mother was now watching him with a frown on her face.

He suddenly asked. "Mother, could there be something, anything, that would make you not…  _love_  me anymore?"

She looked unsettled by the question. "Draco? What have you done?" she murmured.

"Nothing, Mother, I promise." He smiled again, wishing to assuage her fears. "But is there? Could you ever stop loving me?" he asked anxiously.

His mother seemed really surprised at his words. It was true that there wasn't much room for expressing feelings in the family, and that it wasn't the kind of discussion they were used to having, even if she had always been rather loving and caring for Draco.

"Draco, darling, how could you ask such a question? You are my one and only child, and nothing could make me stop loving you. How come you don't know that by now?" she looked deep into his eyes. "I lied to the Dark Lord in order to find you, I was so worried I could barely breathe," she added. "So, no, Draco, I could never stop loving you."

He felt relieved to hear his mother's words, even if deep inside, he had already known the answer, and felt grateful of her for uttering them out loud. She probably wouldn't have said such words before the war, judging the simple fact of exposing her feelings totally inappropriate. But so many things had changed…

"Right… I-" He lowered his gaze and looked at his hands, nervously playing with his signet ring. Like he had done with his father, he chose not to drown the facts in too many words and decided to get straight to the point.

"Mother, I'm gay." He lifted his head and searched her face with worry. But his mother didn't show anything. She remained like that, looking at him and said nothing for a while. Draco thought that, that was it, he had definitely lost her. He felt tears coming up his eyes dramatically quickly and managed to keep them at bay. He mentally kicked himself for being such a wuss.

After a while, she finally said. "Are you sure?"

That took Draco by surprise. How could his mother ask such a weird question? Of course he was sure!

"Yes, Mother, I am sure."

"But, don't you… like women then?" Another weird question.

"No, Mother, I have absolutely nothing against women. It's just that, I'm not attracted to them er, physically, I'm attracted to boys." He was under the impression he was explaining what being gay meant to a three year old.

"Oh. Well, your father won't like that."

"No, he doesn't indeed. He still wants me to marry a woman."

"Well I guess it makes sense, Draco. You  _have_  to marry a woman."

"Yes, but-"

"There are no 'buts', Draco. You don't get to do what you want. You have to play by the rules," she said sternly.

"Yes, I know that, thank you, Mother," Draco said bitterly.

"Oh. Very well, then," and she took a sip of her tea.

"Right, well, thank you for listening to me, Mother,"  _I suppose_ , he added in his head.

She simply nodded once, so Draco left the room without another word. Well, at least both his parents knew about him, now.


	16. Calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Fluff alert! :)
> 
> I've added another great drawing from this chapter made by the lovely micehellhpdm for my birthday! Thank you so much, you're amazing! :D

Harry couldn't contain his excitement as the time to go back to King's Cross Station approached. Finally, after two long weeks, he was about to see Draco again. He was slightly worried that something might have changed between them, since he hadn't heard from his boyfriend at all for two weeks. It was even hard for him to remember precisely what Draco looked like. Every time he tried to picture his boyfriend's face, it only came out as a blur in his mind. And so many things could have happened to him during those two weeks. What if Draco had changed his mind about him? What if he had met someone else? Harry knew it was ridiculous, but the thought crossed his mind nevertheless.

When they finally set foot on platform nine and three quarters, he started scanning the crowd frantically, not even listening to anybody anymore. After what felt like hours to him, a shock of white-blond hair finally appeared in his line of vision. He felt his heart beat faster at the sight of Draco, surrounded by his parents. Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from him. God, he was even more beautiful than he remembered. After a while, Draco seemed to have sensed Harry's insistent gaze on him. He slightly turned around and their eyes locked for a second. But then Draco turned his back to him very quickly and it was over.

Harry couldn't help feeling anguish creep up inside of him. Shit. Draco had not even shown the slightest sign of acknowledgement. He decided not to put too much into that and turned to hug Mr and Mrs Weasley goodbye, and thank them dearly for the holidays.

Ron and Hermione were bickering in their compartment, and Harry was leaning on the window, looking at the landscape unfolding rapidly before his eyes. Suddenly, something in the air attracted their attention. It fluttered pass Hermione and Ron, and got closer to Harry. He realised with a jolt that it was a small bit of parchment, which had been charmed to fly its way to him. Harry's heart beat faster as he took hold of it and frantically opened the folded piece of paper. There was only one thing written on it.

 

 

 

 

_20_

Harry frowned. He didn't know what he had expected, but it certainly wasn't that.

"What is it, Harry? Is it from Draco?" Hermione inquired.

Harry scratched his head. "Well, I don't know, look!" but as he showed them the small piece of paper, it suddenly burst into flames and then disappeared.

"Well, what was on it, then?" Ron asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"Just a number."  _Oh_. Harry suddenly figured out what it meant. He got up and turned to his friends.

"I'll be right back."

"Yeah, right, mate," Ron sneered, and Harry hastily left.

* * *

Draco was nervously pacing compartment number twenty, hoping Harry would have got his rather cryptic message. He didn't have much choice: he had to be extra careful now that his father knew about him being gay. He couldn't let anyone else know he was in a relationship with Harry. His father would go out of his mind if he ever learned about it. God, it had been really hard not to jump into Harry's arms as he saw him on the platform. It had been so long!

He was still lost in his thoughts when he heard a very faint knock on the compartment door. He opened it at once, and grabbed Harry's arm firmly, before pulling him hastily inside. He then closed the door, wand in his left hand and muttered " _Colloportus_." The spell sealed the door, preventing anyone from coming in. He then performed a " _Silencio_ ," so that no one would hear them.

Draco finally turned around, facing a slightly puzzled Harry. He hesitated for a second before sending his arms around the boy and pressing his lips to him. He felt Harry relax instantly and kissed him harder, finding his way inside the boy's mouth. God, it was so good to finally be able to hold, touch and taste him! 

After a while, he broke the kiss, his hands still cupping Harry's face and their foreheads resting against each other's.

"God, I've missed you," he murmured, stroking Harry's cheeks with his thumbs.

"I've missed you too, Merlin, I've missed you too! I couldn't stop thinking about you." 

They kissed again before finally sitting down, still holding each other tight, entwining their fingers together, unwilling to let go of one another.

 

 

 

"I didn't know what was going on on the platform earlier, I thought that maybe, you had changed your mind, and didn't want me anymore…"

Draco looked at him, frowning slightly. "Well, that's a weird thought! You really thought I could forget about you after only two weeks?"

"Well, I don't know… maybe?" 

"You're an idiot," Draco said affectionately, before kissing him on the lips again. He felt strangely flattered by his boyfriend's concern though, to be totally honest.

"So, what's with all the mystery surrounding our encounter? We certainly didn't take that much precaution on our way to London!"

"Well, things have changed in between, Potter. My parents now know I'm gay," he snarled.

"They know? How?"

"Theo. He decided Christmas was a good time to pay my father a visit and let him know I fucked boys," Draco said through clenched teeth.

"Shit! What did your father say?"

"Oh, he was delighted!" Draco scowled. "Just kidding, it wasn't too bad. He lectured me on the fact that my attitude wasn't worthy of a Malfoy, and that in the end, I had to marry a woman anyway or I'd be disowned. The whole time he was trying very hard not to show how disgusted he was."

"Shit," Harry said again, stroking Draco's hand with his thumb.

Draco shrugged. "Well, what did you expect? It's not like I didn't know he would say something like that."

"So, what are you going to do?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, I really don't. I absolutely don't want to marry a woman, but it's complicated…"

"Yeah, it must be…"

"Oh, and by the way, I came out to my mother as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I wanted to tell her before my father did."

"Was she more understanding than him?"

"Barely. She basically told me I had to play by the rules and do as my father told me."

"Well, that's disappointing…"

"No, it's not. It's normal," Draco explained. "You have no idea where my parents come from. They have very bigoted views on the world, as you know, mainly because of the way they were raised. Some of their views –and mine- have already changed because of the war, but they will need time to come to terms with the whole thing, if they ever do."

"Do you think they ever will? I mean, do you think one day they will accept you for who you are, no matter who you sleep with?"

"Well, I want to believe they will… I want to believe that my parents somehow love me enough to accept me the way I am, but I don't know, I really don't know…" Draco paused. "And what about you? Did you tell Weasley's family?" He had tried hard for once not to use any offensive nickname to describe his boyfriend's 'adoptive' family.

"Yes, I did. I came out to them."

"Good! How did they take it?"

"Well, they were fine with the fact I was gay. I mean, I got to endure George's endless jokes about it, but apart from that, they were pretty much understanding."

"Good. I'm happy they took it well." He paused. "Did you tell them about me at all?"

Harry seemed to hesitate. "Well, yes, I did…"

"And…?"

"It was much harder than telling them I was gay to be honest. You didn't leave the best memories to the family…"

Draco pondered that. "Yeah, I know… that was to be expected," he said flatly.

"But they were kind enough not to make a too big deal out of it in the end, so that's fine."

"Good. I'm glad it went well for you." He leaned in to kiss Harry again and whispered in his ear. "Enough talking. Tonight, you'll sleep in my bed, okay?"

Harry chuckled and threw him a sideward glance. "And what exactly do you have in mind, Malfoy?"

"Well, first I will undress you very slowly, run my hands and mouth all over your body, and then fuck you senseless," he said with a wicked smile.

"Oh, very romantic," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Romantic? You really thought I was the romantic kind, Potter? Well, sorry to disappoint you, then!" he pouted.

"You prat!" Harry replied. "I can't believe I ever fell in love with you!" he laughed heartily.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, why wouldn't you? If there's one thing to wonder is how on earth it took you so long to realise I was that irresistible! Really, you should thank me, Potter, for opening your eyes to some unexpected pleasures."

"Shut up, you prick!" Harry said laughingly, straddling Draco's thighs and kissing him hard.

It did shut Draco up, and they spent the rest of the journey in each other's arms.

* * *

Theo couldn't wait to go to bed. It had been a long day. He had first had to pack his trunk, then there had been the endless trip back to Hogwarts. He was slightly annoyed by the fact that they were wizards and still had to endure a long journey on a rickety train to go back to school.

He was glad to be back at Hogwarts though. It wasn't perfect, but it was still better than staying at home with his father ranting about the Dark Lord's defeat on and on. Theo thought with a pinch that his life definitely wasn't fun anymore. His family barely had any money left, and their once-respected name certainly didn't shine in society anymore. Shit, he was eighteen after all! He should definitely be enjoying himself more than that! Instead, he felt lonelier than ever.

The only highlight of the holidays had been when he had visited Lucius Malfoy and outed Draco. God, it had been priceless to see the mask Malfoy usually harboured crumble to pieces as Theo was telling him, on the tone of confidence, that his only son, and heir of the family's fortune, was bent. It had been Theo's finest moment. He hoped Lucius had taken what he had told him seriously and had punished his son severely. He wondered with a jolt if Draco had been beaten up for it.

He didn't care one bit. The jerk had dared play with his feelings and Theo wanted nothing more than seeing him pay for that. He supposed Draco wouldn't let him get away with it, but at least, he had got his revenge. The rest didn't matter much in the end.

He opened the door to his room and went straight to his trunk. He had to sort his things out before heading to dinner.

He was leaning forward, head bowed over his trunk, rummaging in with his right hand and trying to sort his things out. God, his trunk was a mess! Theo was normally a rather organised person, but things like that didn't seem to matter much to him those days.

There was a rapid swishing sound.

It took Theo a second to realise what it was before he felt the lid of his trunk violently shut down on his head.

"Ouch! What the-" he exclaimed to the room, rubbing the top of his head furiously. He took a look at the lid which was standing wide open again. Theo frowned. He examined it with narrowed eyes. Well, Theo probably hadn't pushed it back enough, and it must have fallen down because of that, although the blow had been surprisingly hard. He pushed it all the way back up, making sure it wouldn't happen again, before he started sorting things out in his trunk again.

Another swishing sound sent a shiver down his spine.

This time, he managed to jerk his head back in time to avoid the second blow but unfortunately, he wasn't as quick with his hands. He let out a whimper as his fingers got painfully squished between the lid and the edge of the trunk. He stood up with a start, and ran to his bathroom, rubbing his fingers hard under the running cold water. What the hell was wrong with his trunk? He was trying hard to rationalise what had just happened but couldn't find any reasonable explanation to the whole thing. After bandaging his fingers cautiously, he went out of the bathroom, feeling slightly nervous. Thankfully, he had left his wand in his back pocket. He took it out and walked back to his bedroom carefully.

He came to a full stop as he took a look at his bedroom.

The curtains of his four-poster bed had been all drawn. Theo was certain he had not pulled them closed. He moved slowly, almost tip-toeing, wand clenched tight in his right hand, ready for whatever waited for him behind the curtains. He cautiously came closer to his bed and thrust his left hand forward to open them. In an instant, his wand escaped his right hand and at the same time, he felt something shoving him hard onto his bed. He fell flat on it, entangling himself in his curtains that had been partially torn in the act.

He didn't have time to recover, or even to realise what was going on since he felt an incredibly painful stinging hex hit his buttocks. He howled in pain, pressing both his hands on his backside in a feeble attempt to protect it from further attack. He was panicking rapidly. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could and ran for the door. He didn't go far though, and tripped on something, falling heavily on the floor with a loud thud. He whimpered in pain and desperately started crawling to the door, before managing to stand again and rushing to it but it burst open on its own accord and hit his face hard. He let out another scream, holding his bleeding nose with both of his bandaged hands, before running away as fast as he could.

* * *

"There you are!" exclaimed Harry as Draco finally joined him in his own bedroom. "I was starting to wonder if you hadn't found something else, or someone else more interesting to entertain yourself!" Harry was sitting cross-legged on Draco's bed, a book in his hand. He swiftly discarded it on the bedside table.

"Merlin, Potter, you really have trust issues with me!" Draco quipped. "I had important things to do," he added mysteriously.

"Well, couldn't it wait? I haven't seen you in two weeks!"

"Oh, come on, stop whining, now. It isn't very sexy!" He walked to his desk, putting Harry's Invisibility Cloak on it.

"So, was my Invisibility Cloak put to good use, then?" 

"Oh, it certainly was!" Draco said with a very satisfied grin on his face.

"What did you do with it?" 

"Oh, I just had to send a little message to someone who had not really been thinking about what it means to mess with a Malfoy…" Draco replied evasively.

"Oh no, Draco, what did you do to Theo?" Even though Harry wasn't a great fan of his boyfriend's ex, he couldn't help being worried as to what Draco might have done to get back to him. He knew too well how Slytherins could act and react when attacked, especially Malfoys.

"Relax, it wasn't that bad! I just meant to teach him a lesson, that's all," Harry wanted to say something but Draco didn't let him. "I couldn't NOT do anything about it, Harry, it would have sent the wrong signal to him and to the rest of the House. So I did what I had to do, and scared him a little, but I won't dwell on that too much because to be honest I don't give a flying fuck about the guy. He's just a pathetic loser."

"Right," Harry finally managed to say. "You Slytherins really are twisted sometimes!" 

"Shut up, Potter!" Draco jumped inelegantly onto the bed alongside Harry which made him bounce and lose his balance slightly. Harry laughed heartily at his boyfriend's childish behaviour.

"Well, that's not a very dignified move for a Malfoy!" he grinned, but Draco silenced him by pressing his mouth hard on his. "You talk too much," Draco said before kissing him again.

Harry soon broke the kiss and disentangled himself from Draco. He squirmed to reach something under the pillow and pulled out a small navy blue square box. He handed it to Draco and murmured, "Merry Christmas, Draco," blushing slightly.

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked deep into Harry's eyes before taking the small box in his hand. Harry smiled warmly.

"Open it!" he said impatiently. It wasn't much, but he hoped that Draco would like it nevertheless.

Draco opened the box delicately. A dark red piece of cloth, the size of a handkerchief, was neatly tucked around something spherical. He grasped the cloth, along with what was in it, and carefully unfolded it. Inside was a walnut-sized golden ball.

"A Snitch?" said Draco, looking slightly puzzled.

Harry smiled. "Just take it in your hand for a second." Draco removed the cloth and held the Snitch in his fingers. Harry then grabbed his wand on the nightstand and, with a swift movement of his wrist murmured " _possessorem_!" A pale blue light went out from the tip of Harry's wand and swirled around Draco's fingers and the Snitch, encircling them. The twirling light became suddenly brighter and then disappeared.

"Wow! What was that?" Draco whispered, rolling the small golden ball around in his fingers.

"I've just charmed it so that it only answers to you from now on. Which means that, if I did it well, only you should be able to make it work."

"Work?"

"Just blow on it," Harry pressed him.

"Okay…" said Draco, narrowing his eyes. He gently blew on the Snitch and a few bright words in a delicate lettering appeared on it and seemed to be glowing through the Snitch.

_I love you, Draco – Harry._

Draco let out a small gasp and Harry smiled widely. It was working! He had been practising the spell with Hermione quite a lot over the holidays to make sure it would work properly. Draco was looking at it intensely now.

"This was the Snitch from our very first game against each other, during our second year," Harry explained, but Draco couldn't take his eyes off it. "I don't know if you remember, but I had fallen hard on the ground to retrieve it and had broken my arm. Gilderoy Lockhart had then insisted on healing it, but of course the spell went wrong and he only managed to remove all the bones in my arm. Anyway, I was taken to Madam Pomfrey right away. It was only late that night that I realised I still had the Snitch and decided to keep it."

"Well, who knew the Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World was a shameless thief?" Draco murmured, still intensely looking at the small golden ball.

"It belongs to you, now, so it means that the writing disappears if you don't hold it in your hand. It would only appear again if you're the one holding it and blowing on it."

Draco finally looked up at Harry. "How… how did you do that?" he seemed really impressed.

"Well, with a little help from a friend…" Harry said, smiling softly.

"Granger, I suppose," Draco said mostly to himself. Harry nodded. "It's… I don't know what to say, it's… it's amazing, Harry, thank you." He leaned in and kissed Harry softly on the lips. Harry could have sworn Draco's eyes looked slightly humid.

Draco delicately tucked the Snitch back into the small box and put it on his nightstand.

"Well, I have a little something for you too, but it certainly won't be as nice as your present!" Draco said sheepishly. He stood up and walked to his trunk. He took out a rectangular box of reasonable size, wrapped in a beautiful Christmassy paper.

"I'm sure it's going to be perfect, Draco," Harry smiled warmly, wishing to reassure his boyfriend. He hadn't really expected Draco to give him anything, since they hadn't talked about the whole exchanging-gift thing and he was happy to see his boyfriend had thought about him anyway.

Draco sat back on the bed and handed the box to Harry who eagerly took it. He then tore the wrapping paper mercilessly.

Draco laughed. "Why am I not surprised that you would do something like that rather than delicately removing it?" he said shaking his head.

"Well, I've never been the patient kind, as you may have noticed," Harry replied with a grin.

"Oh, I certainly have," Draco said, smiling affectionately at his boyfriend. "Come on, open it!" he added excitedly.

Harry swiftly dismissed the wrapping paper on the floor and lifted the lid of the box. Inside, he found what looked like silk. The fabric felt incredibly soft and delicate between his fingers. It certainly was silk, Harry thought. He grabbed the item and held it up to take a better look at it. It was a dressing gown. It looked incredibly comfortable and would be very useful as it was always chilly in the morning here.

Draco said shyly. "I-" he seemed to hesitate a second and then, stood up. He moved over to the chest of drawers next to his nightstand and opened the very last drawer. It was empty.

"I've, er, made room for you in this drawer if… if ever you want to leave it there, along with a change of clothes… I mean, you don't have to, it's just, if you want…" he paused and added in a very low voice. "I thought that maybe you could use it whenever you came over and spent the night here."

Harry didn't know what to say. He was deeply touched by his boyfriend's gesture. They had been together for over two months now, and their relationship was growing stronger and stronger as each day passed. Harry smiled at the fact that Draco's gift was probably the equivalent of inviting him to move in with him.

He dropped the dressing gown on the bed and walked to his boyfriend, who was still sporting a slightly worried look on his face. Harry took his face in his hands and kissed him lightly on his lips.

"Thank you," he said. "It's beautiful. And that's very thoughtful. I'm really touched." And with that, he kissed Draco harder, wishing to show the boy how much he really meant to him. The kiss intensified, and Harry was breathing in his boyfriend's scent, feeling dizzy at the warm and intimate contact.

He spent the night in Draco's bed of course, and they made love for the second time. It was very slow, and very intense, and they revelled in each other's touch. As Harry was slowly falling asleep in Draco's arms that night, he couldn't help thinking that he was definitely back home, and it felt amazingly good.


	17. Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Right, we're getting into the second part of the story. There is going to be a bit of drama/angst in the next few chapters, but I promise, it all ends well! :) So here you go, hope you'll like it! :)

January passed in a blur. The seventh and returning eighth year students were studying harder than ever. They were working constantly, and Draco and Harry barely had time to see each other anymore. Thankfully, Harry had accepted Draco's Christmas gift and had moved most of his belongings into Draco's bedroom, so they were now spending most nights in each other's arms.

On some rare occasions though, they would sleep separately. The pressure of the exams was intense, and the boys weren't sleeping very well at night. They both still had nightmares.

Harry was mostly reliving different moments of the final battle, each and every time trying to find ways to save the people who had sadly died. Draco, for his part, had recurring bad dreams about Vincent Crabbe in the Room of Requirement. It was almost always the same nightmare every night: Draco was frantically looking for his friend in every corner of the room, surrounded by the incredible heat of the Fiendfyre. But no matter how Draco tried to save him in his dreams, he never managed to get there in time, and always ended up hearing the heart-rending screams of his friend dying a horrible death night after night.

It was nothing they had not faced before: they had both been haunted by those nightmares for months, but it didn't help in the slightest regarding the amount of work they were expected to provide.

Maybe it was because of all the hassle of what had to be done, or maybe it was because of his restless nights, but Draco started having headaches on a regular basis. It was nothing new, though. Something similar had happened to him in his fifth year when they had been working hard for their OWLs, and again during sixth year, for different reasons.

At first he didn't have too many, but they became more and more intrusive as the weeks passed. At one point, he was so inconvenienced by the discomfort they created, that he owled his mother, asking her to send some pain relief potions. Sure enough, the day after, Draco received his weekly huge box of sweets, and along with the Chocolate Frogs, Chocoballs, Fizzing Whizzbees and other delectable goods, were three small vials each holding a different purpose: a Calming Draught to help relieve the pain caused by his headaches, a Vitamix Potion to give him energy, and a Dreamless Sleep Potion to help him spend a good night and block the nightmares.

Draco was reluctant to use the latter though, because even if it allowed him to spend an uneventful night, it made him completely groggy the day after and made it even harder for him to concentrate on his work. So in the end, he didn't use it much.

* * *

The first weekend of February was another Hogsmeade one. Ron and Hermione had insisted that Harry came along with them and their friends, but he had refused, preferring to stay behind with Draco. He was conscious of the fact that he was rather letting his friends down lately, but the last few weeks had been so intense that he welcomed a rather quiet afternoon in the almost empty castle with his boyfriend.

After what had happened the last time Draco had been to Hogsmeade, he didn't feel like going back there. Harry understood that Draco didn't want to face the same situation again. However, he still felt it was a shame for Draco not to be able to walk around as he wished and enjoy a little day out. He hoped that things would get better with time.

So, on that incredibly clear afternoon, they were snuggling on Draco's favourite couch in front of the fireplace, enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty common room. They had made sure everybody had gone, checking the dorms twice, and Blaise had been sent on a secret mission to keep an eye on Theo, so that hopefully, nobody would stumble on them. They had just finished their third game of Chess, which Draco had won again - to Harry's great displeasure - and were quietly talking about their future.

"I still don't understand why you would come back to Hogwarts and suffer through another year here when you have been offered a position as an Auror in the first place," Draco stated in disbelief.

"It's just that… I don't want to be treated differently. I want to take and pass my exams like everybody and prove that I deserve to become an Auror." Draco snorted and Harry sighed. "I hate being taken for granted, always have. I mean, I want to become an Auror through my hard work and not just because-"

"Just because you defeated the greatest Dark Wizard of all times at the ridiculous age of seventeen? You're right, Potter, I don't see why people would want you as an Auror without your NEWTs, you wouldn't be qualified enough!" Draco sneered.

Harry sent him a dark look and sighed.

"That's fine, Harry, I was just kidding. I see what you mean, and once again, it's disgusting to see how pure and noble your intentions are," Draco said, his voice tinted with awe. "My own perfect little Gryffindor," he added in a lower voice, pressing a soft kiss on Harry's lips.

"What about you? Have you decided what you are going to do after school yet?" Harry asked casually.

"Well, the more I think about it, the more I want to work in something that involves potions. I mean, I'm pretty good at them, and it's something I really enjoy doing, so…" Harry wrinkled his nose at that. He had never really liked working on potions and didn't understand Draco's fascination with them. He supposed the fact that Snape had been their Potions teacher for so many years hadn't helped him in the slightest. It didn't mean it wasn't a good thing for Draco, though. He was right, he had always been really good at them, and Potions had always been his favourite subject.

"I think that's a good idea," Harry said after a while. "Do you know what you could do, then?"

"Well, the idea would be to start an apprenticeship and reinforce my knowledge on potions alongside a Potions Master for a few years."

"Sounds great! Would you like that?"

"Oh yes, very much," Draco replied, absent-mindedly stroking Harry's cheek with his finger.

"Well, that's perfect, then! You've found what you want to do!" Harry said, elated.

"It's not so easy, unfortunately, Harry," Draco replied sadly.

Harry frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, it will be almost impossible for me to find a Potions Master willing to take me as his apprentice…"

" _Oh_." Of course, it made sense. Who would take such an infamous ex-Death Eater as an apprentice? No Potions Master in his right mind would be willing to take such a risk and stain his reputation with someone like Draco. Harry sighed and tried to hide his deception. "Well, you never know! There might be someone out there who would be able to see past it and only focus on your results," but it didn't seem convincing even to his own ears.

"I hope so. And that's why I have to work even harder than all of you lot. I have to get as many 'Outstandings' as possible if I want to stand a chance."

"I'm sure you'll do great. You've always had very high grades after all, and have only ever been beaten by Hermione," he added with a wicked grin.

"Nice one, Potter! Thanks for reminding me!" Draco snarled and pinched Harry on his side.

"Ouch, you bastard!" Harry hit him back on his hand.

"Stop it, you're gonna hurt yourself!" 

Harry flicked his tongue in response. "Is that a promise?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe! But only if you behave!" Harry joked and kissed him full on the mouth. He closed his eyes. "God, I love you, Draco!" he said against his boyfriend's lips.

"I love you too, you prat," Draco replied tenderly before pulling Harry to him. Draco started untucking Harry's shirt from his trousers, running his hands all over his back, and grabbing his mouth into another lingering kiss.

* * *

_Filth._

It surprised Draco in Charms the very first time, on a cloudy afternoon of February.

At first, he didn't really pay attention to it, but it kept coming back in the hours, and the days that followed.

He didn't tell Harry about it.  _Scum._  He didn't want to freak him out. It probably was nothing. Or just a simple side effect of his exhaustion. He had grown incredibly tired over the last few weeks after all. Hell, he could not recall a time when he had been that tired in all his life.  _Stupid._ He could barely bring himself out of bed in the morning and all day long, all he was thinking about was his bed, dragging himself from class to class.

But still.  _Weirdo._

Exhaustion couldn't completely explain why he heard it in the first place. Nor  _what_  it was telling him. That little voice inside his head,  _wanker_  not completely foreign to his own ears, but not completely familiar either, was starting to really bug him.  _Trash._

And slightly worry him.

Because it was taking more and more space in his head.  _Ponce._

Disrupting his very own thoughts.

Sometimes, he could hardly tell the difference between what he, Draco, was thinking, and what  _it_ , the _Voice_ , as he called it for lack of  _repulsive_  a better word, was telling him.

Because he couldn't prevent it from telling  _junk_  him bizarre and incoherent things. Insults, mostly. Apparently directed at him.

And because  _atrocious_  what it was telling him was starting to make him pretty nervous.

At first, it had only been sparse, vague, undefined words, finding their place in the middle of a sentence  _fairy_ forming in Draco's head. It lasted for days like that. Draco would be in the middle  _sicko_  of thinking about something when some random word was uttered by this other voice in his head.  _Sucker._

He could tell it was a different voice from his. He had been hearing his own for eighteen years,  _plague,_  so he knew perfectly well how it sounded like in his head, thank you very much. No, this was different.  _Aberration_. Another kind of voice. The kind he had never heard before, nor even heard of before. He didn't know it was possible to hear two  _monstrosity_  distinct thoughts in your head, one that was definitely yours, and one you couldn't control at all.  _Dirt._

But there it was.

It insinuated inside his head  _deviant_  at the worst of times. In the middle of class. Whenever  _queer_  he was with other people.  _Abomination_. But the times it felt the worst, was when he was with Harry. _Freak, pervert, degenerate._  That was driving him crazy. Especially when they were being intimate.  _Vermin_. Once, it had been so present in his head,  _stain of dishonour_  that he couldn't focus anymore and had  _devious_  to stop the whole thing, running away holding his head  _shame_  in his hands, for fear it would  _debauched_  explode with this overload of thoughts.

And then, there was the pain. It started to hurt.  _Tosser_. Badly. Increasing the headaches  _abnormal_  he had been having for weeks.  _Wacko_. They were no more the simple basic headaches  _gross_  he had had when he had been working on his O.W.L.s. No, these were headaches from hell. Bad-ass headaches.  _Bugger_. The kind that make you want to bury your head in the  _filthy shit_  ground and die right here and then. The kind that would leave you drained of any energy. The kind  _faggot_  that wouldn't go away despite the numerous potions Draco was now taking to diminish their strength. He would  _spit_  give anything to make them go away. He wanted to bang his head  _repulsive_  into the nearest wall, it was that  _disgusting_  bad.

God, what was  _fucker_  wrong with him? Was he  _punk_  slowly losing his mind?

* * *

"Mmmm," Harry groaned, as Draco was kissing him hungrily, darting his tongue mercilessly inside of his mouth, one hand cupping his head, as if wanting to make up for lost time. Harry was, of course, very happy to oblige, and soon their hands were roaming over each other's body, a thrill running down Harry's spine at Draco's now familiar touch.

Four months. Harry could hardly believe it. It was the very beginning of March, and Draco and he had been together for four months. Four incredible, exciting, amazing months. More than Draco and Theo, Harry thought with a burst of pride. It certainly wasn't a competition, but still, Theo had always been, in Harry's head, his rival for Draco's heart even though the Slytherin had absolutely no idea that his ex-boyfriend was now dating him.

Another shiver ran through Harry as Draco was now pushing him to his bed and they were both fumbling with the buttons of their shirts, their breaths short and their movements frantic. They managed to get out of their clothes incredibly quickly and were soon stark naked. Draco shoved Harry down on the bed, and went to rest on top of him, rubbing his arousal hard against his, never breaking the kisses and caressing him with greed. Harry was trailing his fingers down Draco's back, enjoying the softness of his skin, and the sharp lines of his boyfriend's back, before resting his hands on his lover's arse, groping and feeling him shamelessly.

Suddenly, Draco arched his back and froze, closing his eyes, and bending his head forward to let it rest on Harry's shoulder.

"Draco? Are you all right?" 

"I'm- I'm fine, fine, don't worry, Harry, just- just give me a minute," Draco replied, eyes still tightly shut. He took a deep breath, lifted his head and opened his eyes again.

"It's okay, it's gone now," he finally said.

Harry gently stroked Draco's cheek with his fingers. "What was it? Another headache?"

"Well, yeah…" Draco said evasively.

Harry frowned. "Are they not getting more… frequent? And more painful?" Harry could definitely tell those headaches were getting really nasty, no matter what Draco was – or was not – saying. He could see the pain in Draco's eyes when he had them, he could see his boyfriend wince from the pounding in his head, or rubbing his temples whenever he thought Harry wasn't looking.

"Well, I-" Draco sighed and closed his eyes again. "Maybe," he conceded.

Harry propped himself on his elbows. "Don't you want to go and see Madam Pomfrey?" Draco opened his eyes. "I mean, she could probably help you?"

"No. These are just headaches, nothing more," Draco said, removing a strand of hair from Harry's forehead. "Besides, I have the potions my mother sends me, so I'll be just fine, stop worrying about me like I'm a sick puppy."

"Oh, but you're an adorable sick puppy," Harry teased, even though he wasn't fooled by Draco's change of subject, but he decided to leave it at that for now. He knew Draco didn't like to be pushed anyway. But he would keep an eye on him.

They resumed their kissing, touching and groping, but as soon as things started heating up, Draco had to pause again. This time, he rolled off of Harry, and rubbed his temples with his fingers, his eyes shut tight. Harry knew it was better not to say anything at that moment, so he just let his hand gently caress Draco's chest in a soothing motion.

After a while, Draco opened his eyes again and looked deep into his eyes.

"Look, Harry, I'm- I'm sorry, but I don't think I can… I think we- I think you should go," he finally said.

"Oh." Shit. It must be really bad if it made him stop the whole thing.

"I'm sorry, Harry, and I wish I wouldn't have to stop, believe me, but I don't think I can go on with this for now," he added sheepishly.

"Okay, well, I'll go then," Harry replied, trying not to show how disappointed he was. "But that's not normal, Draco. Your headaches are really getting worse, and I'm not sure these are regular headaches anymore. I mean, I know your mother sends you potions to help you with them, but maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfrey so that she could give you something stronger, because apparently, these are not working well."

"Yeah, well, I might go and see her then."

Harry wasn't completely convinced by his boyfriend's answer, but there wasn't much he could do at the moment. He leaned to kiss Draco on the lips, but didn't linger on for too long, not being sure he could refrain himself from ravishing his boyfriend right here and then.

He sighed and got up, dressing again quickly and went for the door.

"Please promise me to go and see her if your headaches are really getting worse," he asked, his hand on the doorknob.

"Harry, I-"

"Promise me, Draco," Harry insisted.

Draco sighed. "Fine, I promise."

Harry smiled. "Good. I'll see you later, then!" and he opened the door. "Oh, and Draco?" he added, closing the door again for a second.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he grinned.

Draco smiled as well. "I love you too, Harry."

And with that, he left the room.

* * *

He opened the door to Harry.  _Not this filthy shit again. I told you to get rid of him. How dare he come back here in your bedroom?_

Draco tried to dismiss the angry Voice in his head and let Harry in without a word. It was getting worse. The random insults he had been subjected to during the first weeks of the Voice's apparition had been replaced by whole, long, nasty sentences, that were dangerously playing with his sanity.

_He's a monstrosity, he's here to destroy you, is that what you want? You're indulging in scandalous behaviour with this scum, tainting your soul, while you could lead an honourable life. MAKE HIM GO!_

Draco closed his eyes and swallowed hard, rubbing his temples with his fingers, before opening his eyes again.

"Draco?" Harry started, reaching to gently touch his cheek. As soon as Draco felt Harry's fingers on his skin, a jolt of pain seared from his skull and he jumped back, holding his head in his hands. Damn those fricking headaches! They were driving him crazy! As if having someone else's voice talking to you in your head constantly was not enough!

"Draco!" Harry exclaimed, coming closer. "What the hell is wrong with you? Is that your headaches again?" He almost shouted and reached for Draco's hands that were still firmly gripped on either side of his head.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Draco shouted. "Please," he added sheepishly, almost immediately. "It… it… it's okay, it's just…" He didn't want to experience the same pain he had felt just a moment ago when Harry had touched him. How could he ever explain that to him?

"Draco, I want you to come with me. We must go and see Madam Pomfrey, you can't stay like that!"

_WHAT IS HE STILL DOING HERE? MAKE HIM GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! NOW!_

"Oh, shut up!" Draco yelled at the Voice.

"What?" Harry deadpanned.

"No, no, no, not you!" Draco whimpered, still holding his head. God, it hurt so badly, he thought his head would explode!

_HE'S BAD FOR YOU! HE'S A PERVERT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU, NOT LOVING YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST, HE'S JUST HERE TO MAKE FUN OF YOU, USE YOU, AND HURT YOU. THROW HIM OUT! OUT! NOW!_

"Draco, what the- "

"STOP IT!" he told the voice again. He walked backwards to the nearest wall, and let himself fall to the ground, knees to his chest, hands still on either side of his pounding head, covering his ears and closing his eyes tight. Why couldn't it all just stop? Please! Make it stop!

 _Oh you know very well what to do to make it all stop._   _Leave him. Make him go._

"I- I can't!" Draco moaned.

"What?" Harry said again.

Another burst of pain made Draco arch his back against the wall and whimper; he knew he wouldn't be able to fight it much longer.

"That's it, I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey," Harry tried again but stopped when he saw Draco's face contorted in agony, his fingers clenching the sides of his head so tight it hurt.

_HE'S HURTING YOU! DON'T YOU SEE HE'S BAD FOR YOU? CAN'T YOU TELL THAT ALL THE PAIN YOU'RE GOING THROUGH IS ALL BECAUSE OF HIM? YOU WOULDN'T HURT AT ALL IF HE WEREN'T HERE! LEAVE HIM! BREAK-UP WITH HIM ONCE AND FOR ALL! HE'S BAD FOR YOU! HE'S A DEGENERATE WHO WILL LEAD YOU TO YOUR OWN LOSS!_

"No!" Draco said feebly, his head pounding and dizzying like mad.

"Okay, you stay here, Draco, and I'll be right back, don't move!" and he stormed out of Draco's bedroom.

The pain almost instantly subsided, releasing the incredible pressure in his skull. That was insane! The Voice wanted Harry out of Draco's life? What kind of a spell was that? Because Draco was sure of it now, he had been cursed in one way or another. Either that, or he was becoming truly insane. Merlin, what was he going to do?

_Good job. Now you have to get rid of him for good. Break up with him._

"Like hell I'm gonna do that," Draco said defiantly, remarking that it wasn't very smart to be talking to himself. But he wasn't really talking to himself, was he?

_You'll have no other choice, I'm afraid. Let me show you._

With the pain no longer pounding his head, Draco managed to get up and drag himself to his bed, where he lay down, feeling much better. What the hell had that all been? It had never happened before! First, the headaches from hell, and then that? And it was definitely getting worse. He had never felt anything to that level up till then! And the Voice… the Voice had never talked to him like that either…

As soon as Harry was back in his room though, Weasley on his heels, the pain – and the angry Voice - were back. And the force of it was almost too much to bear. Draco winced and got himself into a foetal position, trying to avoid or at least lessen the pain, to no avail.

_NOT HIM AGAIN! ARE YOU NOT LISTENING AT ALL? MAKE HIM LEAVE, AND NEVER COME BACK! NOW!_

"What the -?" Weasley muttered. Draco was whimpering endlessly on his bed now.

_OUT! MAKE THE FILTHY DEGENERATE LEAVE, NOW!_

"See? I don't know, I have absolutely no idea. But we have to take him to Madam Pomfrey, now! And that's why I need your help, come on!"

_MAKE HIM GO MAKE HIM GO MAKE HIM GO MAKE HIM GO !_

Draco felt two pairs of hands on him and once again, the incredible pressure in his skull, and the almost unbearable pain came back in a flash. He put his hands back around his head, writhing on his bed in pain, trying to push the two boys away.

"NO!" he shouted, panting heavily, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he cried.

_GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY_

"GO AWAY!" he echoed the Voice. This crazily intense pain was too much, ripping his skull apart, so much that Draco felt like he was about to die. A fleeting thought of his mother passed in his confused brain, and then it all stopped at once. His vision turned black, and it was all over.

* * *

He opened his eyes, but it took a moment for his vision to get into focus. He blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out where he was.

He was in a huge, familiar room, with enormous windows letting the sun of this incredibly beautiful day in. It certainly wasn't the Manor.

The hospital wing.

Fine.

He probably wasn't dead yet.

He heard muffled voices on his right and tried to turn his head in that direction. It felt incredibly heavy, and kind of numb as well, but at least the pain had gone and he managed to take a look.

Three people were talking in hushed voices. There was Weasley, Madam Pomfrey, and Harry. It warmed Draco's heart to see his boyfriend here, even if at the sight of him, a slight muffled pain started creeping up at the back of his skull, but it went away as fast as it had shown up.

And that's when he realised it. The Voice was gone. God, he felt so incredibly relieved!

He turned his head back up, fixing the high ceiling above his head before closing his eyes again, and falling deeply asleep.

* * *

It must have been much later when he opened his eyes again, because the light had dimmed considerably in the room. It was probably late afternoon or evening.

Madam Pomfrey was getting busy checking on him. His mouth felt very dry and he suddenly realised how thirsty he was. He tried to lift his hand but it still felt pretty numb and it fell back on the bedcovers with a small thud.

"Mr Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "You're awake! Here, let me," and she lifted him slightly, rearranging the pillows behind his back to keep him in a half-sitting position.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, checking his pulse.

"Thirsty," he managed to answer, although his throat was so dry, it was almost too painful to talk.

"Oh, of course. Here!" With a flick of her wand, she levitated a glass of water that had been standing on a table a little further away. Draco hastily took the glass of water and almost emptied it in one gulp.

"Better?"

"Yes, thank you," he paused. "Do you know what… what happened to me?"

"I- No, not exactly, Mr Malfoy. I was hoping you could tell me more. I ran several tests while you were asleep, but have found nothing relevant yet. Mr Potter told me what had happened in your bedroom with as much details as he could, but I was waiting for you to tell me more about all of your symptoms before jumping to any conclusion. How long have you been feeling this way?"

Draco hesitated for a second. He wasn't sure he wanted people to know what was going on in his head, because whenever he thought about it, it sounded crazy even to his own ears. And after all, the Voice was gone, so he decided to keep it to himself for now.

He told Madam Pomfrey the rest, though. The headaches, the incredible pain he was feeling, although he said nothing about the fact that it was much worse whenever Harry was around. He thought it could have simply been a coincidence – although with what the Voice had been telling him, he doubted that - and didn't want Madam Pomfrey to draw conclusions as to the real nature of their relationship.

She listened to him intently and finally spoke.

"Good, thank you, Mr Malfoy," she seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Here's what I think: you have been working very hard those last few weeks, and didn't take time to recover properly. You have, like many others, been deeply affected by everything that happened during the war. You've been through so much pressure, and stress, and pain, that you are paying the price now for all the strain your body and your soul have gone through. These are probably physical manifestations of the shock you've suffered during the war."

Draco wasn't surprised. He had come to the same conclusions as well, although what happened during the war didn't really explain the Voice and the rest. So maybe he should tell Madam Pomfrey anyway. But no. He couldn't really. It would bring things to a much serious level, and she might have to call his parents in, and he didn't want that. And maybe he was just making it all up in his head, and she was right, it was just a combination of stress, exhaustion and after-shock of the war.

She went on. "I've given you a Pain Reducing Potion, a much stronger pain-killer potion than the one your mother has been sending you," Draco frowned slightly. "Yes, Mr Potter told me about that as well. This new potion explains the numbness in your limbs. It releases the pressure in your head, and helps making you feel better."

"When would I be able to leave, then?" He certainly didn't want to stay here for too long.

She looked at him intensely and finally said. "I would very much like you to spend the night here, and see how you feel tomorrow morning. If you are better, then I would see no reason to keep you around here, as you must be pretty busy, although I must say you will need to remain under close scrutiny," she paused. "Is there someone who could watch you?" She paused again. "Mr Potter, maybe?"

"Yes, I'll ask him. So, that's it? Nothing else?"

"Well, no, Mr Malfoy, that's all for now. Like I told you, these are simple headaches, bad ones, I'll give you that, but headaches nonetheless and you're already feeling better so it means the Pain Reducing Potion works. I'll give you a vial of it, for you to take for a couple of days. It should be enough to release the pressure in your body and let it recover. But be careful: stop taking it after two days: it's a really strong and powerful potion that could do more harm than good if you take too much of it. So please keep taking your mother's potions as well, as they will take over the Pain Reducing Potion without the nasty side-effects."

"Okay. Fine, thank you very much."

Draco felt incredibly relieved and slowly dozed off again.


	18. Hardship

"Oh fuck, don't stop Draco, please!" Harry was panting heavily, hands clutching the edges of the desk tightly, while Draco was pounding into him restlessly.

"No intention to, Harry," Draco grunted to his neck, in between kisses on Harry's soft skin. "Merlin, this feels too good," he muttered breathlessly, closing his eyes and thrusting even harder inside him, both his hands on his boyfriend's hips. God, it did feel incredibly good, to be able to make love to Harry again! They had stopped being intimate a couple of weeks ago, even before Draco fainted in his room the week before, when Draco's headaches had become too painful and the Voice had completely taken over his head. And now, they were back together, revelling in the incredible sensations their intimacy provided.

Draco moved his left hand from Harry's hip and went to rest it on his flat stomach instead, before reaching down to grab his boyfriend's erection.

"Oh fuck, Draco, fuck I won't-"

Draco smiled and started stroking him fast. He loved reducing Harry to an incoherent state. God, it was so good to have him back in his arms!

He shifted slightly and thrust even deeper, and Harry cried hard, clenching tightly around him, before spilling his seed all over the desk of the abandoned classroom, his whole body shuddering crazily. That was all it took for Draco to lose it and come deep inside him, and he throve on the sensations, closing his eyes again, moaning loudly, the peak of his orgasm sending waves of pleasure in his body.

When it was all over, Draco rested his chin on Harry's shoulder for a while and closed his eyes, holding him tight.

After he had left the hospital wing on Sunday night, they had slept in each other's arms that night, but had wanted to wait for Draco to really recover before going any further. So they had hugged, and kissed, and held each other tight, night after night, but nothing more than that.

Things had changed drastically on that bright Wednesday afternoon though, when they decided to take a break in that empty classroom for a snogging session that soon went out of control. They barely had time to remove their jumpers, open their shirts and shove their trousers down before Draco was bending Harry over the desk and taking him with a needy moan. God, it had been so long!

After a while, Draco gently pulled out and grabbed his wand to perform a cleansing spell, while Harry was putting his glasses back on. He flicked his wrist, murmured " _Tergeo_ ," and then started dressing again.

It took him a couple of seconds to realise that Harry was staring at him, a weird expression on his face.

Draco frowned. "What's wrong?"

Harry said nothing but pointed the desk they had just had their fun on, and that's when it hit Draco.

The desk wasn't clean at all. Traces of what they had just done remained all over it.

"What the-? I don't get it, I've just-" Draco was confused. He was sure to have performed the cleansing spell properly! Hell, he was so used to doing it that he could do it in his sleep. But now that he thought about it, he realised that there hadn't been the usual tingle in his left hand as he was pronouncing the words. He frowned and hastily grabbed his wand again.

This time, he tried to pay more attention to what he was doing. He flicked his wand with a smooth movement of his wrist, and murmured, " _Tergeo_."

Nothing.

Shit. What was that all about? He feverishly tried a third, and a fourth time, without much success before moodily throwing his wand onto the nearest desk.

"Shit."

"Draco-"

"What's wrong with me again?" he yelled.

"Maybe it's not you? Maybe it's the room?" Harry said, scanning the empty classroom rapidly. He took out his own wand and performed the cleansing spell. It worked perfectly and the desk was instantly as clean as it was before.

"Shit," Draco said again, leaning against a desk. He couldn't take it anymore. He had been so relieved over the last few days, to feel so much better, no more headaches, no more nasty voices inside his head, and everything had really seemed to be back to normal. But now, this?

He hastily grabbed his wand again, trying to remove the locking spells he had placed on the door. Because he had been the one to cast them earlier. His magic had been working just fine, then! He tried once, twice, and after the third time without effect, just threw his wand to the other side of the classroom, where it smashed against the opposite wall and fell with a dry sound to the floor.

"Draco, that's fine, there must be an expl-" Harry started.

"Fine? FINE? I can't do magic, and you think that's  _fine_?" Draco was rapidly losing his nerves, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. "What am I? A Squib now?"

"No, Draco, I-"

"Open the door!" he ordered, pulling his trousers up.

"Dra-"

"OPEN THE FRICKING DOOR!" he yelled.

Harry sighed heavily and flicked his wand twice, and there was a tiny click indicating that the door was not locked anymore.

As soon as it was open, Draco went for it, grabbing his jumper, and stormed out of the classroom without another word.

* * *

"Draco! Draco, are you okay? Please answer me, Draco!" Harry's muffled voice was coming through his bedroom door, but Draco was already too far gone to even just be able to acknowledge it. He lay curled up on his bed in the dark, his head in his hands again, an incredibly intense pain pounding inside of it, racking his brains and driving him insane, preventing any rational thought from crossing his mind.

He was in agony. All he could think about was pain.

Oh and  _that_.

_Guess who's back?_

* * *

"You mean he couldn't perform any spell at all? Just like that?" said Hermione, an hour later in her bedroom. She sported a deep frown on her face, and was pacing restlessly, her index resting on her chin in a sign of deep concentration. Harry nodded. He was sitting cross-legged on her bed, replaying the events in his head over and over again and trying desperately to make sense of them all. First, the incredibly painful headaches, then the huge crisis forcing Draco to stay in the hospital wing for the night, and now, that?

He had come straight to Hermione after Draco had refused to open the door to him. He still wasn't sure he had done the right thing: on one hand, he wanted desperately to talk to Draco, make sure he was okay, but on the other hand, he thought that his boyfriend probably needed space and he didn't want to upset him even more. So in the end, he had decided to leave him alone for a while and to check on him later on.

"I think, you're right," Hermione said after a moment. "Something definitely  _is_  wrong. I mean, bad headaches can happen to anybody, although fainting from the pain is probably more unusual. But completely losing magic, just like that, without any reason whatsoever? I'm not sure I have ever heard of something like that before… although…let me think about it, Harry," she added, resuming her pacing of the room.

Harry went back to his own thoughts, trying to figure things out again. There was this nagging thought at the back of his head that someone might have cursed Draco. But who would want to hurt him? True, many people resented the Malfoys for their role during the war, but why target Draco in this way? Why not try to get at Lucius? Or else… could it be… Theo, maybe? Harry frowned. He knew the Slytherin had outed Draco to his father as his personal revenge at having been dumped, and that he still was unhappy about the break-up, but he couldn't imagine him fomenting such a complex plan. No, whoever was behind all this must be a very accomplished wizard.

He voiced his concerns. "Do you think he could have been cursed or something?" he muttered.

Hermione stopped pacing and turned to look at Harry. "Yes, I was thinking of something along those lines too. But I don't know, Harry. A spell could probably induce the headaches, or give him intense pain, but as for removing all his magic, making him a Squib? Well, I never heard of a spell that could do that," she paused, thinking hard. "There's something missing, but I can't really put my finger on it…" she paused again. "I think you should go and see McGonagall and tell her all you know about it. In the meantime, I will do some research on my own. Do you think there could be things Draco hasn't told you, things he might have hidden from you?"

"Why would he do that?"

"Well, maybe he doesn't want to upset you, I don't know?"

Harry pondered that. "Yeah, you're right, that's a possibility."

"Okay, I'll try to keep an open mind and look in different directions. But for now, try to go and get some sleep. You won't be to any use if you're completely exhausted," she said with a weak smile.

"Right, thank you Hermione. I hope we'll be able to find what's wrong with him…" he said sadly.

* * *

"Any news?" Hermione said in a low voice the next morning.

Harry shook his head with a deep sigh. "No. I haven't even seen him."

"Sorry about that, mate," Ron said, smiling feebly.

"Yeah, well, I just hope he's okay…" Harry muttered.

They were in the Great Hall having breakfast, but Harry wasn't hungry. He was pushing his food in every corner of his plate, scattering it unevenly with his fork, unable to eat, his stomach clenched tight. He still hadn't seen Draco after he had stormed out of the classroom yesterday night, and he was getting more and more worried about him.

"Well, try to keep an eye on him today if you can. I'll go to the library during lunch break," she murmured.

"And then we could both go and see McGonagall," said Ron. Harry smiled. He had the vague impression Hermione had enrolled Ron to keep an eye on Harry, to make sure he was okay in the meantime.

He scanned the room again and his heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of Draco entering the Great Hall with Blaise and Pansy. Harry felt incredibly relieved to see that at least, his boyfriend wasn't alone. He looked terrible though, as if he hadn't slept at all, which was probably the case. He had huge bags under his eyes, and his skin had a greyish tone to it that reminded Harry of the way he had looked in their sixth year. Which wasn't a good sign at all, he thought sadly.

He followed Draco with his eyes until he finally reached his usual spot at Slytherin table. As soon as he sat down though, he took his head in his hands, like he had done a few days ago in his bedroom, before he had fainted. Shit. Was it starting all over again? Were the headaches back? God, if only Harry could go and talk to him, hold him in his arms and comfort him!

He sighed, and tried to focus his attention on his plate again. He contemplated grabbing a muffin to eat later when he felt Ron elbow him hard in his ribs.

"Ouch, Ron! What the-"

"Look!" Ron cut him. "Malfoy, look at him!"

There was a murmur at the Gryffindor table and all eyes were soon on Draco. He had stood up, his head slightly bent forward, and his hand suddenly clenched tight on his chest. Harry stood up with a start.

"Harry!" Hermione was calling him, but he didn't care. His eyes were fixated on Draco, who was now bending over the table. He then started unsteadily walking away. Pansy and Blaise were instantly at his side but he feebly shoved them away.

The Great Hall was incredibly silent now, everyone holding their breath. Draco took a tentative couple of steps before stopping again and grabbing his head in his hands again, stumbling forward. He then fell brutally down on his knees and started throwing up violently onto the floor of the Great Hall. Harry realised with utter horror that what Draco was throwing up was of a rich dark red colour.

Blood.

Draco went on spitting blood all over the Great Hall's tiles for a couple of seconds before finally collapsing unconscious on the floor.

The rest went in a blur. Harry shouted, "DRACO!" in the otherwise stunned Great Hall and jumped over his table, running to his boyfriend, shoving mercilessly anyone who happened to be in his way, incapable of any rational thought. He was acting purely on instinct, a rush of adrenalin coursing through his body, his mind entirely focused on the inert form on the floor.

A crowd of students, mostly Slytherins, had already gathered around Draco, and Harry made his way through them to reach him. He fell down on his knees into the pool of Draco's blood on the floor, and took his boyfriend's head in his hands, letting it rest on his lap, feverishly caressing his cheek and removing strands of his beautiful silky hair out of his closed eyes. God, he couldn't believe what was happening! He couldn't take his eyes off of Draco's beautiful face, stained by a stream of blood already drying at the corner of his mouth. Harry was so scared that he couldn't think properly, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.

And then the Headmistress and all the professors were finally at their side, enjoining the students to leave the scene at once. Harry was keeping one hand firmly pressed on Draco's heart, focusing on his beat, and absolutely not paying attention to what was going on around him, as the Great Hall was reluctantly emptying itself.

He suddenly realised that someone was shaking him, trying to get him out of his trance, so he looked up and saw McGonagall shouting at him. She muttered something, and he seemed to get back to the present time, and this time, he heard her very clearly.

"Potter, stand back! You have to leave him alone!"

Harry was so scared his brain didn't seem to process what the Headmistress was telling him. Instead he kept his grip tight on Draco.

"Potter, MOVE, NOW! We're losing precious time here!" the Headmistress snapped.

He felt Ron and Hermione take him up and walk him a couple of steps back, but he was still in a haze, completely stunned by what was happening before his eyes.

McGonagall then flicked her wand over and over at Draco who was still lying unconscious on the floor, muttering incantations that Harry had never heard before. Or maybe he had. Anyway, he didn't care. All he wanted was for Draco to open his eyes and feel better again. Please let him open his eyes!

He felt Hermione's arm slide gently under his. He was so scared he hadn't realised that along with Ron and Hermione, Blaise and Pansy had stayed as well, despite McGonagall's orders. He felt an unexpected rush of pride at the thought that not everybody had given up on Draco, and that there were still people, among his Slytherin friends, who deeply cared for him.

The Headmistress finished her work on Draco, stabilising him before taking him to the hospital wing for the second time in less than a week.

* * *

Harry was pacing nervously in McGonagall's office. The Headmistress's office wasn't very different from what it had been under Dumbledore: true, the cabinet holding all of the late Headmaster's memories was gone, and a few things here and there let the occasional visitor pick up that someone else was now running the school, but apart from that, it looked pretty much the same. The only really visible differences were the two portraits of Dumbledore and Snape. The latter had been hung there at Harry's request; he had insisted on the essential role the former Potions Master had played to defeat Voldemort.

They hadn't been allowed to enter the hospital wing, despite Harry's pleas, and McGonagall had told him to wait for her in her office instead, giving him a temporary password. She needed to talk to him about what had happened. Harry knew he had some explanations to give, but at that moment, he didn't care one knut. He would spill out everything if it helped Draco get better.

He was still a mess, though. He couldn't help thinking about what had happened, replaying the scene in his head over and over again and felt incredibly guilty for not forcing Draco's door the night before.

After what felt like hours, he heard movement behind him and McGonagall finally entered the room. Harry rushed to her and asked, his voice shaking, "How is he? Is he going to be okay?"

"Well, he's asleep for now. I managed to stabilise him in the Great Hall and Madam Pomfrey gave him a Sleeping Draught to make him sleep deeply to allow his body to recover for a bit while we're trying to figure out what is wrong with him. He seems fine for now, although we may have to take him to St Mungo's later on. But please, take a seat."

Harry sat on one of the chairs facing the claw-footed desk.

"Before we start, there is something that I need to ask you, Harry. I hope you won't mind my intruding in your private affairs."

Harry braced himself. He knew what was coming. His attitude towards Draco in the Great Hall was bound to raise questions, he knew it, especially seeing that the two boys had done nothing but fight over the past seven years.

"May I ask what exactly is the nature of the relationship between Mr Malfoy and yourself, Harry?"

That was it. God, he was about to talk about very private matters to his former Head of House, letting her in on his sexuality.

"I- We're… together," he chose to say.

She looked at him intently, before speaking again. "I see… and may I ask how long this has been going on?"

"Almost five months."

"Right. Thank you, Harry. Now, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask everything you remember concerning the last few days, or weeks, regarding Draco's condition. I already know what he told Madam Pomfrey last week when he stayed in the hospital wing, so I am aware of his very intense headaches, but I wanted to know if something else had happened more recently that would explain his present condition."

Harry took his time to answer. "Well, yes, something happened yesterday, as a matter of fact." He paused, knowing the next couple of minutes would probably be rather embarrassing. But he didn't care. He would do anything to help Draco heal. "Yesterday, we were… together, and at one point, he realised that he," Harry sighed, "he couldn't do magic anymore."

McGonagall frowned slightly. "What do you mean he couldn't do magic? What happened precisely?"

"Well, he was supposed to perform a rather basic spell, but it didn't work. And when I tried to do it, it worked perfectly."

McGonagall leaned back in her seat and looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"I will need you to give me more details, Harry, I know it's not easy but it's of the greatest importance. Please tell me exactly what happened right before, and right after that."

Harry squirmed on his seat. Here we go, he thought.

"Right," he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, gathering his thoughts before opening them again. "Draco and I were in that empty classroom on the fifth floor, and well, we hadn't been… intimate for a while, what with all the problems he had had for days, so now that he was feeling much better, we decided to …" he cleared his throat, a blush creeping up his neck, trying not to let McGonagall's eyes still firmly fixed on him distract him. "Draco cast several spells on the door to give us, er, privacy, and they worked perfectly well, I could feel the magic operating and clearly heard the clicks on the door… anyway, we…" he looked down and turned deep red, "we… did it," he said in a low voice. God, that was so, so embarrassing to have an old lady, McGonagall at that, hear what they were doing intimately as lovers! "And then, when it was over, Draco performed a spell, but it didn't work at all."

"What kind of a spell was that?"

Fuck, Harry wanted to go and hide himself so bad! He was mortified. But Draco's health was at stake. "A Tergeo." He blushed again.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "I see… very basic spell, indeed. Please continue, Harry."

Harry was feeling more comfortable now that the hardest part was over, and he lifted his head and looked into the Headmistress's eyes. "He tried again several times, but it still wasn't working, so I suggested that maybe the classroom was warded, or protected in some way or other and tried to perform the spell myself. It worked just fine."

"Did you try to do it with Draco's wand?"

"Well, not right away, no. But I took it with me when I left the classroom and tried it later that evening. It worked perfectly. I know that I have a special connection to Draco's wand with what happened during the war, but I don't think it's the reason it works so well with me. I'm really starting to believe something's incredibly wrong with him."

"Yes, well, that's what we're trying to figure out. What happened after you successfully performed the spell?"

"So, after that," Harry was trying to remember precisely the order of the events, "Draco got mad and threw his wand at the other side of the room and asked me to remove the spells on the door. And then, he left the room and I didn't see him again until this morning."

"Thank you, Harry. I appreciate your honesty. I know it's not easy to share something that personal, especially with me."

He couldn't agree more. "Do you think that he could have been cursed, or something like that?" he asked her hesitantly.

"Well, it is a strong possibility, Harry, although it doesn't seem to follow the usual pattern and so far, I haven't detected any spell on him. But, yes, I do think that whatever is wrong with him comes from the outside. So once he's recovered a bit and wakes up, I will try to know more about what happened to him recently. But for now, all we have to do is wait, and hope he doesn't get worse. In the meantime, I want you to just take a rest, and I promise that as soon as Madam Pomfrey allows it, you'll be able to see him."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome, Harry."

* * *

Harry was still lost deep in his thoughts when he left McGonagall's office. The things the Headmistress had said were playing over and over again in his head. They didn't know what Draco had. They had sent him to sleep, to let his body recover, but whatever was wrong with him was probably still eating him from inside. Harry felt a deep knot form in his stomach again. What if they didn't find what was wrong with him?

He trusted McGonagall – and Madam Pomfrey for that matter – to figure things out. But they needed to move fast.

The corridors of Hogwarts were mostly empty. It was mid-morning already and everybody was in class. Harry was happy about that. He wasn't ready to face the whispers and weird looks that would inevitably happen after his rushing to Draco in the Great Hall this morning. He sighed. He had once again acted on pure instinct and not thought of the consequences. So very Gryffindor, Draco would say. He smiled feebly at the thought.

He felt a sharp pain in his jaw as a fist suddenly connected with his face. He barely had time to realise what was happening. He cried out in pain, shutting his eyes and trying hard not to fall backwards on the floor. He barely managed to regain his balance and open his eyes to face his aggressor before a second blow hit him again. This time he was ready and ducked at the right moment. He seized his attacker by the waist and shoved him forward hard, flattening him against the wall. Harry pinned the guy to the wall with his left forearm, and hastily pointed his wand on his throat.

"Don't move! If you care for yourself, don't fucking move, Nott!" Harry angrily said.

The frail Slytherin boy looked at him with a dirty look and spat on him. Yuck, that was disgusting! Harry felt rage creep up inside of him and hastily wiped his face with his sleeve. The boy tried to take advantage of that, but Harry knew better and tightened his grip.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he shouted.

"You had no right. How dare you?" Nott retorted with a dark look.

"What?" Oh, bloody Merlin. Of course!

"Draco's mine! MINE! How dare you steal him from me?" he scowled.

"I haven't stolen anybody, Nott. Draco's a big boy and can make his own choices. Too bad for you, he chose me," he added through clenched teeth.

Nott had a cynical laugh. "Yeah, you tell yourself that, Potter. But you may have forgotten a little detail. Draco's a Slytherin. Ever wondered what he was doing with shit like you? I mean, come on, he's hated your guts for years, and now that the war is over and that his name has lost all significance in the Wizarding World, he chooses to fuck you? You, the Saviour? Really, Potter, I thought you were smarter than that," he snarled.

Harry made an angry sound in his throat and pinned the boy harder on the wall. He tried hard not to let the nasty words touch him, but they did. He knew Draco was in love with him, he knew that he had changed, but still, Theo's words stung. Harry didn't want to even consider that there might be a tiny bit of truth in them.

"I don't care what you think, Nott. Draco loves me, and I love him. You have absolutely no right on him. You lost every claim on him when he dumped you. Now you'd better fucking leave us alone, otherwise, you'll pay for it dearly!"

"Oh, threats now, Potter? You must have fallen very low!" he narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You don't know what Draco and I had. He loves me. He's only with you to restore his image, that's all. But wait and see. As soon as he has done just that, he will come back to me. You're just a pawn in his game," he smirked. "God, you're pathetic, talking about love and all, how very touching! You're too much of a Gryffindor to understand how a Slytherin thinks! You've been with him for what, a few weeks, a few months at the most? I've spent seven years living with him, and I know him perfectly well. So, let me tell you something: Draco never ever does anything uninterested. He's a Slytherin through and through. And Lucius Malfoy's son. That should have given you a hint."

Harry pushed his wand deeper in the boy's throat. He couldn't find anything to say to that. He refused to believe the words, and yet… he couldn't deny that everything Nott had told him was possible. He shook the thoughts away; what the hell was he doing here dealing with Nott, while his boyfriend was in a hospital bed?

"You will leave us both well alone," he finally said in a menacing voice. "If I learn that you have anything to do with whatever's wrong with him, I'll get to you, and believe me, once I'm done with you, your father won't be able to recognise you." He saw a flicker of fear pass through the boy's face. Good.

"I'm not scared of you, Potter. And anyway, I wouldn't do anything to hurt Draco," he added defiantly.

"Oh yeah? Not even outing him to his father, knowing perfectly well how he would take the news?"

The boy flinched slightly. "Well, yeah, I admit it, I was angry, and wanted revenge for the way he had treated me. Only fair. But I wouldn't hurt him." And crazily enough, Harry wanted to believe him.

"Well, anyway, you stay the fuck away from us," Harry said before finally releasing him, wand still in his hand.

Nott straightened his clothes, sent a last dark look at him before finally leaving. Harry was sure he had heard him mutter, "pathetic" under his breath.

* * *

Harry was hurrying to the hospital wing, almost running all the way there. He had just been given the permission to go and see Draco, even though it was already late afternoon and he hadn't had dinner yet. The day had passed incredibly slowly. What had happened in the morning kept replaying in his head over and over again.

As he came closer to the huge brightly lit room, he heard voices. He frowned slightly and froze on the doorstep. Madam Pomfrey was talking animatedly with a couple of people, her back to him.

The Malfoys.

Draco's parents.

Harry hadn't seen them since the war. He had heard of what Draco's father had done, how he had actively helped finding all the remaining Death Eaters, providing information of the utmost importance to allow the Ministry to catch them. But he also knew that he had not done it out of the kindness of his heart. He had wanted to escape Azkaban at all costs, and it had worked. Harry felt nothing but scorn for the man. He was more reserved concerning Draco's mother of course, because of what she had done in the Forbidden Forest, and also because he knew Draco was rather close to her. He took a deep breath, not really knowing what to expect, and started walking to the bed his boyfriend lay in.

"Mr Malfoy, I understand why you would want to transfer Draco to St Mungo's. However, I must insist that it would be much better for him to remain here at the moment. It would be too dangerous to transport him now, and we need to know what exactly is wrong with him before we could do anything. I'm sure you will understand that my only concern is Draco's wellbeing. I would transfer him immediately if I were sure it was safe to do so."

"We are not going to let-" Malfoy froze when he saw Harry coming closer, and he slightly narrowed his eyes. Harry saw a flicker of surprise pass on the wizard's face before he quickly put his neutral mask back on.

"Potter," he muttered, in a tone that made Harry immediately think about how Draco used to say his name. Harry took a step further and addressed Madam Pomfrey, ignoring the couple.

"How is he?" Harry said, forcing himself to speak in an even tone, and trying very hard not to touch Draco's now peaceful face.

"Well, he's still not awake as you can see, but he's being given the best treatment possible here at the moment," she added for the Malfoys.

"What are you doing here, Potter? You have no right to be here whatsoever!" Malfoy said with a haughty glare.

Harry slowly turned to him, and eyed him contemptuously. "I don't care what you think, Malfoy, I am Draco's friend, and as such have every right to be here," Harry replied coldly, fixing the older wizard in the eyes.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes some more, and seemed to think intensely. Harry hoped that the man wouldn't put two and two together and discover the real extent of their relationship. Although after what had happened in the Great Hall this morning, Harry knew it was probably only a matter of days before the news hit the Malfoys' household.

"Oh? Friends are we now, Potter?" Malfoy sneered, "Well, I thought Draco had better taste."

Merlin, how Harry hated the guy! He bit back a reply, not wanting to start giving Malfoy more importance than he already was giving himself. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Draco's mother put a calming hand on her husband's arm.

"Lucius, I am sure Mr Potter here is only worried about our son, just like we are," she looked deep into Harry's eyes as he had finally diverted his gaze from Malfoy Senior to look back at her. They exchanged a knowing look. "Aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Harry firmly replied, still holding her gaze, not knowing what to do of the whole silent exchange.

"Well, I think the hospital wing should have a much more restrictive policy on who is allowed to visit patients," Malfoy sneered, scanning Harry from head to toe with his piercing eyes.

Harry seethed.  _Breathe_ , he told himself. He's not worth it.

"Anyway, if it has to be so," Malfoy added, turning to Madam Pomfrey, "Draco may stay here for now. But we demand regular updates on his state." He narrowed his eyes again and said in a low, slightly menacing voice. "And don't let anyone make any decisions concerning our son without our consent, is that clear?"

"Perfectly clear, Mr Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey replied with a hint of a dare. She then turned to Draco and Harry saw her stop dead. He slowly followed her gaze and felt his heart skip a beat.

Draco had just opened his eyes.


	19. Suspicion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, so this is kind of an in-between (albeit necessary) chapter. So stay tuned! :)
> 
> Also, I would like to thank you all for bookmarking, leaving kudos and comments on the story, it really means a lot to me!
> 
> Happy holidays, everyone! :)

Draco woke up in a haze.

Soon, his vision got clearer, and he started making out the blurry silhouettes that were gathered around him. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the bright light in the room as things finally got into focus.

He first noticed his mother and wondered fleetingly what she was doing here. His gaze lingered on her beautiful face, her fine features, and stopped on her eyes. They expressed more than the usual tenderness. Worry. He could see worry there and it made him wonder if things really were that bad.

He then saw his father. No doubt about that, Father was as impassive as always. The mask was firmly in place. No need to search for any kind of emotion there, although Draco knew he was only putting on a show and that deep inside, he probably was as worried as his mother. He just refused to show the world.

And finally his eyes fell on Harry and his heart beat faster. Harry. The boy he had fallen madly in love with. The boy who had saved him in so many ways. The boy who knew how to bring the best out of him, who made the shadows of his life retreat in a corner far, far away and made everything so much more beautiful. Harry. He tried to pronounce the loving name, but his throat was completely dry again, and he couldn't utter a sound.

As if reading his mind, another person helped him sitting up and shoved a glass of water into his hand. Madam Pomfrey. Hell, he was back in the hospital wing again. He closed his eyes as he emptied the glass swiftly and tried to focus on what had happened. Why was he here? What day was it? What time was it?

"Mr Malfoy, how are you feeling?" the healer gently asked him. The other three people bent over him simultaneously and held their breaths, waiting expectantly for his answer. It almost made him want to laugh. God, what a sight! His parents and his boyfriend, hating the guts out of each other, but standing there side by side, united by the same concern for his health. Shit, he never thought he would see something like that, ever!

When he opened his mouth he was still not sure he would be able to articulate a sound. Would his voice still be there and not fail him now that he had to talk? He tentatively cleared his throat and managed to enunciate a couple of syllables in a hoarse voice he barely recognised.

"Better," and he could physically feel the tension leave the place. It was the truth. He was not feeling bad, although he was still not completely sure why he had ended up here.

"Good. Do you remember what happened?"

Draco was thinking hard. He didn't really. He vaguely remembered bits and pieces but couldn't really place them.

Harry then spoke. "You went to have breakfast this morning in the Great Hall, but there was something wrong with you so you suddenly stood up. Then you fell on your knees and vomited blood before fainting on the floor."

Bloody hell! He had made an amazing fool of himself! And in front of the whole school at that!

Draco looked at Harry and everything came back at once. What happened yesterday. His magic, gone. Merlin! And then, the headaches, the Voice. Oh. The Voice was gone again apparently. He turned to Madam Pomfrey.

"Did you give me the same potion as last time?" he asked.

"Well, yes, Mr Malfoy, since it had seemed to work pretty well the other day," she replied.

"Good. I am indeed feeling much better. Although… what about my magic? I can feel it's not back yet… do you know anything about that?" He was trying to say things very casually, but it was his greatest fear. Not to ever be able to do magic again.

"Well, we don't know about that right now. What we know for now, is that whatever is causing all these symptoms seems to disappear with the Pain Reducing Potion. So, we'll go on with that for now, but only for a couple of days. I have warned you before, this is a pretty powerful potion that shouldn't be taken for more than two days in a row, so it can't be a permanent solution to the problem, it only erases its effects for a while," she paused, looking for her words.

"I also want to be able to detect all your symptoms to find what is wrong with you, and I can't properly do that if you're under the Pain Reducing Potion. So I'll start actively working on your case right now, researching what could make your body react in this way. Meanwhile, I will ask you to describe in great details everything you remember that felt wrong and I also want you to rest, because once you stop taking the potion on Friday night, there's a strong possibility that it all starts again." she added.

"Okay…" Draco trailed off.

They all remained silent for a while, reflecting on what the healer had just told them. Draco finally spoke again. "But have you ever heard of something like that? I mean, someone completely losing magic and retrieving it in the end?"

"Well, yes, there have been similar cases in the past, although under different circumstances, and the recovery depended on what had caused the magic to go away in the first place. But yes, there are ways of retrieving magic when it doesn't come back on its own. However," she seemed to hesitate, "these are rather extreme ways, so I hope we won't have to resort to something like that in your situation," she paused. "But we're not there yet. For now, all I want you to do is rest, and let your body recover."

"Fine," Lucius finally said. "Well, Draco, your mother and I unfortunately cannot stay, but we will be keeping an eye on you at all times," he added, sending an insisting glance at Madam Pomfrey.

"Thank you, Father." Draco wondered in passing what had happened before he had woken up.

"I've brought you your favourite sweets," his mother said, pointing to an enormous box on the nightstand. "Now take a rest, darling," she added, stroking his forehead gently.

"Thank you! I will, Mother, don't worry," Draco replied with a feeble smile.

"Oh, but I'm not worried. I'm sure that, as a friend, Mr Potter will take great care of you, won't you?" she added, turning to Harry. Draco nearly choked on his own tongue. Did his mother know about them? Had Harry told them? But then he cast a glance at his father, who didn't seem to have picked up on things. As impassive as his father could be, there would be no way he would have let that pass if he knew.

"Of course, I will," Harry promised looking as surprised as Draco.

"Good!" she smiled, looking alternatively at them. Draco followed his parents with his eyes as they were going back to the nearest fireplace to Floo out of Hogwarts.

As soon as they were out of sight, Madam Pomfrey said, "Well, I am going to give you boys a bit of privacy and come back later on. Mr Malfoy, if you ever need anything, just ring the bell that's right there." She showed him a tiny golden bell on the nightstand. "It's been spelled so that I can hear it anywhere I am and be with you in a second."

The boys thanked her and Draco turned to Harry, a slightly worried look on his face. They hadn't parted in the best conditions the last time they had seen each other, and he was slightly worried that Harry would still be mad at him.

"Harry, I'm-" he started.

"That's okay, Draco, Merlin, I'm so relieved that you're finally awake! God, I have been so, so scared, you have no idea!" Harry said in a slightly trembling voice. He seemed to hesitate for a second, before leaning in and kissing him fiercely on his mouth.

Draco chuckled against Harry's mouth. "Hey! Get a grip, Potter!" he said, breaking the kiss. "Where has the fearless Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World gone now?" Draco teased.

"Stop calling me that, you prick!" Harry snapped, but laughed nevertheless, looking incredibly relieved. God, he must have put on quite a show there, if he scared his boyfriend like that! Although he didn't have time to linger on that. He saw Harry's face fall and get serious again.

"Draco, there is something that I have to tell you, though," Harry said sheepishly.

Draco frowned. "Is it bad?"

"Well, I don't know, I-"

"What happened?" Draco cut. Shit, what could be worse than him losing his magic and spitting blood in front of everyone?

"Well, when you… when you fainted in the Great Hall, I may have run to you without thinking much about what I was doing, and I may have given people some ideas as to what is happening between us…" he trailed off, looking at his feet the whole time.

Shit. Harry had outed them in front of everyone. Great. Draco was slightly pissed off. He was not particularly pissed off at Harry for outing them, but still. Maybe a little, then. He tried not to show it, though, knowing his boyfriend was already feeling bad about it.

"Hey, that's okay," he finally chose to say, brushing his cheek with his fingers. "I know it must have been hard, don't worry!" he thought for a while, before adding, "Do my parents know, then?"

"No, your father doesn't, but I think your mother pretty much figured it out."

"Yeah, I got the same impression earlier."

"Well, she didn't seem to mind that much, don't you think?" Harry said in a hopeful tone.

"True. But Mother and you have this kind of special thing going on between you two since the war, haven't you?"

Harry blushed slightly and Draco could have eaten him right there and then.

"Well yeah, maybe," he shrugged.

They spent the rest of the evening together, talking and kissing quietly, and then Harry had to go.

Draco was then left alone with his thoughts, and they were not all that pleasant. He squirmed a bit and managed to reach his trousers, neatly folded on a chair nearby. He searched his left pocket and retrieved a spherical object. Harry's Christmas gift. He always kept it with him, as a reminder of all the good things that had happened to him this year. He would sneak a look at it every time he needed it, but the simple fact of turning it around between his fingers in his pocket was enough most times to make him feel good.

He took it in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly, closed his eyes and gently blew on it.

Nothing happened.

It was to be expected. His magic was well and truly gone. He sighed and put it back in his pocket, trying not to think of the consequences that might bring in the near future.

* * *

Hermione was in her favourite place. The library. She loved spending time there, and felt her heart pinch a bit at the thought that, in less than three months, it would be all over. She would miss it dearly.

She had rushed there as soon as her morning classes had been over. She had promised to join Ron and Harry for a quick lunch somewhere, since Harry didn't feel ready to face everybody after what had happened the day before in the Great Hall. So for now, she was walking through the shelves, her hyperactive brain at work, knowing exactly what she was looking for and finding it easily. She took books from different sections, found herself a seat and started to work. She had promised Harry she would help him figure out what was wrong with Malfoy. And she had asked Ron to keep an eye on Harry, and make sure he was all right.

The problem was that they didn't have much time. Malfoy was going to stop taking the Pain Reducing Potion tonight, and she needed to think fast. What did she know? She tried to remember everything she had learned from what Harry had told her.

Well, first, it all started with the headaches. At the beginning, they had seemed like regular ones, and since Malfoy had already experienced them before, he had not paid much attention to them. He had taken his mother's potions, potions he had taken numerous times before.

But then the headaches started getting worse and at one point, Malfoy had fainted because of them. That was Saturday. He had been taken unconscious to the hospital wing, and then Madam Pomfrey had given him a Pain Reducing Potion, a much more powerful potion than the ones he was regularly taking. It had worked for a couple of days, and then, on Wednesday, he had lost his magic. The morning after, so yesterday, Malfoy's headaches had been back, fiercer than ever, and another symptom had popped up: he had vomited blood and fainted again, before waking up yesterday night. So there they were on that Friday noon.

She closed her eyes. Headaches, fainting, magic gone, headaches, spitting blood, more fainting. She opened them again and looked at the books in front of her. She had started with the basics:  _Book of Spells_ , by Miranda Goshawk. She skimmed through it for a while, but something wasn't quite right. The more she thought about it all, the more she felt she wasn't going in the right direction. The whole thing wasn't really making sense.

She was interrupted in her thoughts by Harry and Ron's arrival at her table.

"We grabbed sandwiches from the kitchen, so we could go and eat them somewhere. I'm bloody starving!" Ron said, definitely sending away all thoughts she had been having earlier, by pressing a deep kiss on her lips.

"Right, okay, let's go then," she replied. She swiftly put all the books away with a flick of her wand and followed the boys.

They found an alcove in an empty corridor on the sixth floor and sat on a stone bench, quietly eating their sandwiches. Hermione was still very much lost in her thoughts.

"So, did you find something interesting?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione replied. "I don't know enough about all that happened to Malfoy. I was thinking about going to talk to him to find out more. What do you think?" she looked at Harry expectantly.

He seemed to think for a second and then replied. "I think you're right. Maybe we could go and talk to him tonight after class."

"Right." She continued eating her sandwich thoughtfully. "I'm not sure he's been cursed, though, to be honest," she added cautiously between two mouthfuls.

"Why not?" asked Ron, not bothering to swallow his bit of sandwich to answer her.

She eyed him sternly. "Well, because, it doesn't make sense! McGonagall told Harry she hadn't detected any spells on him! And if Malfoy's been cursed, it means that whoever cast the spell is still in Hogwarts and does it in front of our very eyes, which would be rather complicated, don't you think? So no, the more I think about it, the more I believe it's something else."

"Like what?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Well," Hermione said hesitantly, "I was considering…"

"What? What were you considering? Come on, Hermione!" Harry said, standing up nervously and looking at her intently.

She sighed. "I was thinking that maybe he has been poisoned."

Harry slumped on the stone bench. "Poisoned?"

"It's just a theory, Harry, I'm in no way sure about that, but that's a possibility. Look, it's been going on for days, weeks maybe, and the more I think about it, the more I feel it's something that's eating him from the inside." Yes, it made more sense, she thought.

"But how-? And who would-"

"Well, that's what we have to find out. We have to go back though, classes start again in five minutes." She wolfed down her sandwich and stood up.

"Okay," sighed Harry heavily.

"Hey, don't worry, mate! Hermione's working on it, McGonagall's working on it, Madam Pomfrey's working on it… with these three on the case, Malfoy will soon be good as new," Ron told him, patting his shoulder. Hermione felt stupidly proud about her boyfriend's words. She knew what it cost him to talk casually about Malfoy to Harry. He hated the guy, and still couldn't understand how Harry of all people could have fallen for him like that. But he was trying. She smiled at the two of them as they walked away side by side.

* * *

Draco was bored. He knew he had to rest, but he was bored to death. There was absolutely nothing to do here, and he couldn't wait for Harry to come back to see him after class.

McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey had come earlier on and he had told them everything, including the part about the Voice and the fact that the symptoms seemed to get worse when Harry was around.

Speaking of the devil, Draco caught sight of Harry coming his way and smiled widely at him. His smile quickly faded though, when he realised that Harry wasn't alone and had his two sidekicks by his side. Shit. Why the hell couldn't people leave him alone, for fuck's sake! Draco really wished he could spend some time with his boyfriend without anyone else being around! His face fell into a pout. It was childish, he knew it, but he couldn't help it.

"Hey!" Harry said joyfully, kissing him on his lips, but soon frowning at Draco's face. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"Did you really have to bring them along?" Draco grunted.

"Well thank you, Malfoy, nice to see you too," Weasley retorted dryly. "Don't know why we bother at all," he added mostly to himself, but Draco heard him nonetheless.

"Draco… they're here to help. Hermione's working on what might be wrong with you and needed to hear more from you," Harry provided. Draco frowned again. What was that all about? He didn't need Granger's help! He already had McGonagall and Pomfrey studying his case. What could a student, even a brilliant one - and Draco could at least give her that - do that two renowned witches couldn't?

"Well I don't see what the whole point is. McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey are already doing all they can, so I don't see what Granger could add to the equation," he said bitterly.

"Malfoy," Granger started, "you don't like us, fine; we can't say that we're particularly fond of you either," she narrowed her eyes. "But Harry is our best friend, and he happens to have somewhat fallen in love with you, which I must admit is not something I have completely come to terms with. But that doesn't matter. As crazy as it sounds, you make him happy. The problem is, if you get really sick, he will be in pain and distraught. And we don't want that. So we're here to help, whether you like it or not," she added in a very teacher-like tone.

Draco rolled his eyes. "So very Gryffindor… All bravery and foolishness-"

"Draco, please make an effort. They're doing you a favour, you know. You could at least try to acknowledge that. You know perfectly well that Hermione's a very highly-skilled witch, even if you won't recognise it out loud, and it's always good to have someone else helping; the more people work on it, the more we'll get a chance at figuring it out quickly."

Draco sighed heavily and looked deep into Harry's eyes, reaching for his hand and entwining their fingers together. "All right, I'll do it," he turned to Granger. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, I'd like you to tell us absolutely everything that has happened to you those last few weeks."

Here we go again, he thought. "Well, you'd better take seats, then."

And he told them everything. Absolutely everything. He could see them react to what he was saying, and Harry had an expression of deep concern on his face when he explained them about the Voice and the fact that he was hurting more whenever Harry touched him, but nobody interrupted him. An eerie silence followed his words.

Finally, Harry broke it. "Fuck, Draco, why haven't you told me about all that? Every time I asked you, you only told me about your headaches! Do you realise that if you had informed anyone about that voice, we might have already solved the problem?" He was looking rather pissed off now. "Shit, Draco, I can't believe you would hide something like that! I can get why you wouldn't tell me, but you should at least have notified Madam Pomfrey!"

Draco couldn't find anything to say. He knew Harry was right and that his behaviour had been reckless. But he wasn't ready to admit that out loud.

"Well, you know now and she knows too, so now we can go from there," he shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever," Harry said again, removing his fingers from Draco's hand. Draco winced. He hated it when Harry was angry at him, and he apparently was pretty pissed off at Draco for not sharing this very important piece of information.

"Right, so it changes everything," Granger finally said. "Because this takes things to a whole new level, now. It's not just about headaches and fainting, it's much more serious than that," she paused, and the three boys watched her intently. She started pacing the room, speaking to herself as she thought. Draco noticed Weasley's love-struck look on his face at the sight of his girlfriend taking matters in her hands. "So you were saying that the Voice specifically asked you to break-up with Harry, and that you were literally hurting when he was touching you?" she stopped to look at him.

Draco nodded.

She resumed her pacing. "And that you lost your magic right after…" she started blushing, but soon regained composure, "er, after you had been together?" he nodded again. She walked a few steps again. "So admitting that the Pain Reducing Potion given by Madam Pomfrey indeed suppresses all of these symptoms, it means that-" she suddenly stopped and looked at Harry. "It means that there's a very strong possibility that as soon as tomorrow, when the Pain Reducing Potion's effects go away, Harry won't be able to come and see you for a while."

"What?" Draco and Harry said at the same time and exchanged a funny look.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but we can't have you around if you make Draco sick… you'll have to step back I'm afraid…"

Harry stared at her with utter disbelief. "Shit! But I want to see him, hell, I need to see him!" Harry's words coiled heat in Draco's gut but he felt distraught nonetheless. Granger sent him a sorry look and Harry spoke again. "Fine, I will stay away then. But if I can't visit him, I at least want you to come and see him every day, Hermione,"

"What?" This time it was Draco and Hermione who talked at the same time and an amused look passed in Harry's eyes.

"Well, yeah, I'd very much like you Hermione to come and help figuring out what is wrong. I think-" he looked at them both alternatively before saying again. "I think that you two should work together." Surprisingly, the Weasel stepped in to support him.

"Harry's right. Hermione's brilliant, and Malfoy… well as much as I hate his guts, Malfoy's not bad either. Having the two of you working together would increase his chances of recovery tremendously," Weasley added. Merlin, he did sound serious! But even Draco had to admit it made sense. As much as he loathed to admit it, Granger was indeed a brilliant mind and had an incredible knowledge on all things magic that would be of great help. He snorted at the irony of it all. He was about to work hand in hand with a Mudblood, shit a  _Muggle-born_. If his father ever heard about that, he would turn green on the spot.

"I think it makes sense," Granger finally said.

All eyes turned to Draco at once. They were eagerly waiting for his answer, holding their breaths.

He sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. But I can't promise I'll be all charming and fun to work with," he added with a scowl.

"Oh, but I wasn't expecting anything less from you, Malfoy," Granger retorted.

"Fine, great then," Harry hurriedly said. "I'm glad we finally came to an understanding of sorts. You two will make a great team," he added, leaning in to kiss Draco forcefully on the mouth, gently caressing his cheek, oblivious to the others. He felt Granger and Weasley flinch at the tender gesture.

"Right, Hermione, I think we're all done, here. Let's go!" Ron pressed her.

"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow, Malfoy. Until then, I'll try to take a look at a few books in the library. See you later, Harry," she said, squeezing his arm before walking away.

Harry watched them leave, and kissed Draco again, a long, loving albeit urgent kiss, and Draco cupped his head, keeping him close.

After a while, Draco broke the kiss. "I hope it won't take too long for us to discover what's wrong with me," he sighed. "Because if Granger is right, then that means I won't be able to see you for a while…" he added sadly, removing a strand of hair from Harry's face. "And then I won't be able to do that," he kissed Harry on his lips again, "or that," he kissed him at the base of his neck and Harry closed his eyes, "or even that," and he slipped his hand in Harry's trousers, feeling the soft skin of his backside, and Harry let out a soft moan.

"Draco…" he trailed off.

"Ahem."

They both jumped at once, and Harry moved swiftly back, but Draco was somewhat relieved that it was only Madam Pomfrey.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's dinner time, Mr Malfoy," she announced, very matter-of-factly.

"Right, I've got to go," Harry said. "I hope I'll be able to see you tomorrow anyway," he leaned in to kiss Draco on the lips and murmured, "Good night!" against his lips before leaving the hospital wing.

* * *

Harry joined his friends for dinner in the Great Hall. He had enjoyed having sandwiches from the kitchens for lunch instead of having to deal with people asking him about his relationship with Draco. But now he felt that things were starting to get clearer – true, they still didn't know what was wrong with his boyfriend, but at least, they had a kind of plan – he was ready to face whatever was waiting for him down there.

He wasn't really worried about the general population of Hogwarts; after all, he was eighteen, so most of the students were younger than him, and on top of that, he had been subjected to gossip so many times over the years that he wasn't really paying attention to whisperings or voices lowering as he approached people anymore.

He was more worried though about the reactions of his friends. He hadn't really been able to have a proper conversation with Seamus or Neville yet, and he was a bit anxious about what they had to say about it all.

He came to sit right between Ron and Seamus, and just across the table from Neville. The Gryffindors were in deep conversation and didn't really seem to acknowledge his presence, so he grabbed a piece of bread and started munching on it. He let his gaze wander over the Slytherin table, almost expecting to see Draco there. Of course, he wasn't. He was hoping Draco wasn't feeling too lonely, and wished he could have had dinner with him.

At one point, the conversation died and Neville leaned forward. "How… how is he?" he asked in a hesitant voice.

"Excuse me?" Harry nearly choked on his bread. Was Neville really casually asking him about Draco?

"Malfoy. How is he? Is he feeling better?" Neville said again.

Harry was slightly surprised that his friend would enquire about Draco. "He's better, although we still don't know what's wrong with him," he paused. "But thanks for asking anyway, mate, I really appreciate it."

"Well, I must admit it was kind of a shock to me," Neville replied with a shy smile.

"Believe me, me too, I mean, we didn't even know you were gay, for a start," Seamus stepped in.

"Yeah, well…" Harry replied.

"How- I mean, how did- How long have you been…" Neville asked nervously.

"Together?" he nodded, glancing at Seamus quickly. "Five months."

"Five- Five months, Harry, really?" Seamus didn't seem to believe his ears. "But how come you never talked about it? I mean, well, you know what we think of him…" God, yes, Harry knew perfectly well! "But you could have told us!" he added indignantly. "We're supposed to be your friends! How come you never told us something that important, Harry?"

"Well, I- I really didn't know how you would take it, and on top of that, Draco didn't want people to know, because his parents had no idea he was gay at the time."

"Because they do now?" Neville asked incredulously.

"Well yes, they do, although they don't really know he's with me," Harry shrugged.

"Merlin, Harry, I'm sorry but Malfoy?" Seamus said, dropping his fork and knife on his plate with a loud clunk, a disgusted look on his face. Harry could see people sending him weird looks all around them.

"Seamus, I-"

"Believe me mate, I said the same! Can't say I'm thrilled about it either!" Ron intervened.

"Yeah, I know," Harry snapped, slightly irritated.

"But, do you… I mean, is it serious?" Neville tried again.

"Yes, very serious," Harry hesitated and thought he might as well say it all. Everybody knew now, so it didn't really make much of a difference. "I really have deep feelings for him," he said sheepishly, slightly blushing.

"You're in love with Draco Malfoy?" Seamus replied, looking more and more flabbergasted by the minute. "Well, after the war I thought that nothing could surprise me anymore, but by Merlin's beard I was wrong! I would never have imagined that something like that could happen! Never, ever!"

"I didn't either to be honest. But he's changed. Look, guys, I'm not asking you to understand it, or even become friends with him, but if you could just, you know, not make a big deal out of it that'd be great!"

"I'll try, Harry. But I can't promise you I'll manage to get past everything he did to us," Neville said in a gentle voice. "He has been nothing but horrible for seven years."

"I know…" Harry replied sadly. What could he possibly answer to that? It was the simple truth after all.

"Yeah, well I'm rather disappointed to be honest, Harry, I thought you had better taste," Seamus concluded bitterly, stuffing some chicken inside his mouth. Shit, that hurt.

"We'll probably be needing some time," Neville echoed.

"Right, it doesn't really matter anyway." Harry knew it could have been much worse. He finished his meal lost deep in his thoughts.

* * *

Hermione woke up with a start and sat up at once. It was deep dark in her small bedroom, and Ron's light breathing next to her swiftly took her back to reality. She was panting slightly. Even at night, her brain was in overdrive. It was right there, she thought desperately. Something had been nagging at the back of her head the whole day, something that had to do with Malfoy's problems, and it had resurfaced during her sleep.

But what was it? She closed her eyes, and tried hard to remember what had triggered her out of unconsciousness. Malfoy. Symptoms. No spell. Poisoned? Poisoned. Poisoned… What would anyone do to poison someone from a distance?

Oh God. That was it! She felt a rush of adrenalin coursing through her body despite the hour. How come she hadn't thought about that before? She mentally cursed herself for not having been more perceptive.

Potions.

It was in the potions.

It was in the potions Narcissa Malfoy was sending her only son.


	20. Libidam Reversem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you very much for all the comments, kudos and bookmarks! And a Happy New Year to everyone! :)

Harry awoke to an empty bed and it wasn't a nice sensation. He brought the pillow he had been holding while sleeping to his face and breathed it in. It still held Draco's scent on it and he closed his eyes. After all that had happened, Harry couldn't get himself to go and sleep in his own bedroom anymore. Draco's quarters were his as well now, since he had been spending the last few months in them, holding his boyfriend tight against him night after night. He sighed, wondering when they would be able to sleep together again, if they ever would. After all, they still didn't know what was wrong with Draco, and if whatever made him sick was Harry-related, there might not be much hope for them.

He pushed the dark thoughts away and hastily prepared himself for breakfast. As he was going out of their room, he met Ron at the top of the stairs leading to the common room. He was surprised to see that Hermione was nowhere in sight.

"Morning, mate!"

"Morning, Ron," Harry replied. "Where is Hermione?"

"Oh, well, she left pretty early this morning, saying she had important things to do and not to worry, it would probably take her a while and she might not have time to have breakfast with us."

"Oh… Do you think it has anything to do with Draco?" Harry said.

"You mean that she might have found something? Honestly, I don't know, Harry, when she's in such a frantic state, I know better than to ask too many questions."

"Right, that's fine, I guess we'll know soon enough."

And with that, they headed to the Great Hall.

* * *

 

They didn't get a chance to talk to Hermione before the beginning of the first class. She arrived just on time, slightly dishevelled, and had to sit far from them, which meant that Harry wouldn't be able to talk to her during class. Shit. He had great difficulties in focusing on whatever they were supposed to be working on, and time kept dragging on.

 

At the end of the first class, Harry managed to get a word with her.

"Did you find something, then?" he asked.

"Well, yes, maybe. But we don't have time to discuss it right now, let's go to the library after our last morning class and I'll tell you all about it!"

"Right, okay," Harry groaned a little at having to wait again.

Finally, morning classes were over, and they walked together to the library. Harry would have liked her to tell them right then, but Hermione wanted to wait to be all settled before sharing what she had found.

They sat at a table Hermione had chosen because it was situated in a quieter part of the library, and they would be able to talk more freely there.

"So, what did you find? You did find something, didn't you?" Harry couldn't hide his excitement, no matter how tainted with worry.

"Yes, but before I tell you anything, please keep in mind that it's only a theory, okay?"

The boys nodded.

"We already know that Draco hasn't been cursed. McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey have both scanned him twice, at different times, and nothing came out of it, at all."

Harry already knew that, but waited patiently for the rest.

"So I started thinking about what else could be wrong with him, assuming that someone had actually done something to him," she paused. "So, if Draco has not been cursed, my take would be that he has been poisoned."

"Poisoned? But-"

"Look, Harry, it's just a theory, but I think it's worth taking it into consideration. I'm thinking about a long term-process here, not some instantaneous poison, but rather something that wouldn't be easily detected at first, but that would grow stronger and more potent as weeks pass. The fact that his health is gradually getting worse, might mean that whatever is happening to him, is something insidious and likely long term."

"Okay," Harry swallowed hard, "please, continue", he pressed Hermione.

"Right, but then it means that Draco has to ingest the poison on a regular basis to get worse."

Harry blanched at the words. The more he was thinking about it, the more it was making sense. Poisoned. A cold sweat went down his eyebrow and Hermione gently put a calming hand on his.

"Hey, don't worry, Harry! We're getting closer to finding a solution for Malfoy, he's going to be fine!" Ron provided.

"Merlin, I hope so!" he replied. "Please, go on."

"Okay. The most urgent thing was to find how the poison was getting inside Draco's body. So I started thinking about that, but couldn't really find an answer, although I knew it was right there somewhere," she pointed to her head. "And then last night, it came to me."

Harry and Ron had unconsciously leant forward and were holding their breath.

Hermione looked directly into Harry's eyes. "It's in the potions, Harry. The potions Narcissa Malfoy sends Draco every week."

Harry froze. The potions? He frowned and started thinking hard about that. It couldn't be!

"Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that Narcissa Malfoy is poisoning her one and only son? I'm sorry, Hermione, you know what I think of the Malfoys, but I absolutely can't see her doing anything like that! She loves Draco! She wouldn't poison him!"

"Well, maybe it's not her, maybe someone else is using her potions to put the poison in them?" suggested Ron.

"Ron's right, Harry, that's a possibility," Hermione added.

Harry leant back in his seat. "But who? Who would want to hurt Draco?"

"Well, I'm sure many people would be very happy to get their hands on the Malfoys, Harry." Ron said thoughtfully.

"Again, I think Ron's right, Harry."

"Wow, twice in less than five minutes!" Ron beamed and Harry saw Hermione send him an amused look, almost tender.

She went on. "It could be personal revenge for being Death Eaters, or some Death Eater's family willing to make Lucius pay for sending their loved ones to prison. The Malfoys don't lack enemies, that's for sure!"

"But why get to Draco, then? Why not try to get to his father?" Harry asked again.

"Well, it's much easier to attack a youngster than to try to reach a powerful wizard like Malfoy, who probably expects as much and must be very cautious."

"True," he replied. Soon, another thought surfaced. "Anyway, whatever the reason, Draco has to stop taking the potions altogether!" Shit, why hadn't he thought about that before? He stood up with a start, but Hermione enjoined him to sit back down, tugging at his hand.

"I've already spoken to McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey about my theory this morning and both agreed that Draco should stop taking them."

Harry felt slightly relieved. Good, at least things were starting to clear up a bit.

They were all lost in thoughts for a while, before Hermione started speaking again. "But there are still things that do not add up with this theory, and that's why we need to keep an open mind about it all."

"What are you thinking about?" Ron asked.

"Well, for one thing, I can't really see the link between someone wishing to poison Draco and the effects of the poison. I mean, it looks like the poison, or rather, the potion that is used as a poison, is trying to hurt Draco through Harry. Remember how Draco explained to us how this voice in his head was clearly asking him to break-up with Harry? That's what doesn't make sense to me. Because I don't see how someone willing to poison Draco would even know about Harry in the first place."

God, Hermione was right. He felt doom dawn on him like a heavyweight.

And there was something else that didn't fit in Hermione's theory. Something that Harry couldn't put his finger on. It was right there, at the back of his head, and shit, he couldn't make it go to the surface. He thought hard for a while, and suddenly it came to him. 

"Hermione, I agree with you, it doesn't make sense." She looked at him intently. "Because Draco started having headaches before taking the potions, and we all agreed that it was his first symptom! So it doesn't fit! It can't be in the potions!" Harry felt the knot in his stomach suddenly tighten at the realisation. Shit, they hadn't made any progress in the end! He took his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the table.

After a while, Hermione spoke again. "Well, maybe the headaches he was having before taking the potions were normal headaches after all! Draco told me he was prone to them and had them regularly over the years," she paused, and then started again. "Yes, he could have had usual headaches, take his mother's potions to cure them, and then develop the much worse headaches caused by the poison. I'm afraid this is not a valid argument, Harry."

"But then whoever wanted to poison him had to know all that! That's where it doesn't make sense! Unless you're suggesting again that the Malfoys are indeed trying to poison their own son!"

"Even I think it doesn't stand. They wouldn't hurt him. And Merlin knows I hate them," Ron added.

Harry had enough. He needed some fresh air. It was too much. His worry for Draco kept increasing as each day went by, and he couldn't even go and see him anymore. Shit, he already missed him so much!

"I'm going out," he moodily said, knowing it wasn't really nice to leave his friends like that, especially when they were trying hard to help, but it was too much for him.

* * *

 

He decided to go down to the lake. The weather was improving slowly. March was almost over and spring was just around the corner. Harry could already see the changes in the nature that surrounded him.

He went to sit by a huge tree just a few feet away from the bank. He tried not to think too much about everything that was going on, because it only made him miserable. He tried to focus on positive things instead, absentmindedly casting pebbles into the water, but that was hard.

He was deeply lost in his thoughts when he heard someone approaching. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and lifted his head.

"Hi, Harry," said Ginny in a soft voice. "Do you mind if I sit for a while?"

"No, of course not, Ginny. I haven't seen you for a while!" He was happy she was there, he realised, because she would be a nice distraction to his dark thoughts. She came to sit right next to him, resting her back on the tree just like him.

"Do you have any news? About Mal- Draco, I mean?"

Well, so long for the distraction, he thought. "No, we still have no clue as to what is wrong with him."

"I'm sorry, Harry, I wish he would get better, I really do."

He raised an eyebrow.

Ginny smiled feebly. "I know what you think, but I'm being sincere here, Harry. I mean, I still don't like him, at all, but you're my friend and I can't stand seeing you unhappy like this," she said, reaching for his hand and holding it in hers, in a comforting gesture.

"I know…" he hesitated, and looked at her. "Thank you, Ginny, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Harry," she paused, and stared at the lake. "Do you remember the last time we've been here together?" she had a small laugh and Harry felt himself blush at the memory.

"Oh Merlin, yes, I remember!" He closed his eyes and was taken back to that day when he had blurted Draco's name while Ginny was kissing him, and felt the blush increase again. God, it had been so embarrassing at the time! Harry had been so confused then! But right after that, Draco had come and talked to him, and things had started to get so much better after that. Harry warmed at the memory.

He finally opened his eyes and said. "I'm so sorry about the whole thing, Ginny."

She looked at him sternly, and for a while he felt as if he was facing Mrs Weasley rather than her daughter. "Well don't be, Harry! It was for the best in the end, and you know it," she paused, staring at the lake again. "I'm sincerely happy for you. I didn't know it at the time of course, and I've been really angry with you, but I see it now, Harry. As much as I hate the guy, I can see he's doing you good. You've changed. You may not see it, but you've really changed. You're more confident, and-"

"Well, yes, it was great. But now, everything's all gone awry again. What is wrong with me? Am I not allowed a bit of sustained happiness without life-threatening events taking over my life?" he replied moodily.

She sighed, playing with the pebbles at their feet with her free hand. "I don't know, Harry. But I'm sure it will get better, and one day, you'll lead the life you want, with the person you love, and you'll finally be able to sit back and contemplate how thoroughly happy you are, without any more threats from the outside."

"Yeah well, you don't know about that," he muttered dryly.

"It's true, I don't," she replied patiently. "But I can feel it, Harry. One day, all of that will be behind you and you'll be where you have always wanted to. In a nice home, with the man you love, doing a job you love, and raising lots of little Potters!"

That made him smile. It was a nice thought. Although he didn't really know about the children, but if he were indeed living with a man in the future, they would probably have to adopt since they certainly wouldn't be able to conceive. But it was a nice reflection anyway, and it managed to warm Harry's insides more than he would have thought.

He turned to Ginny and smiled at her. "I've already told you that, but I'm really grateful we could remain friends. You really are an amazing woman, Ginny Weasley, and I'm sure you'll find happiness too. You deserve it, you really do."

"Well, thank you, Harry," she said, standing up, and brushing her robes with her hands. "I have to go."

"Yeah, I guess I have to as well. Let's go back to the castle."

And they went back there together.

* * *

 

Hermione was back in the library after her afternoon classes, scribbling furiously on the parchment in front of her, opened books spread all over her desk. McGonagall had exceptionally allowed her unlimited access to the restricted section, since she was now of age.

She was incredibly thrilled every time she was entering the section and each time, it felt as if a new world was opening to her, and she had to focus hard on her task not to be tempted by all the wonderful books now available to her. She had grabbed hold of several books of Dark Magic, and among them borrowed _Moste Potente Potions_ and a strange case of _déjà-vu_ hit her as she remembered sneakily borrowing the book during their second year to get her hands on the Polyjuice Potion's recipe.

She spent a couple of hours skimming through enormous tomes, taking notes and never lifting her head. After a while, she contemplated her work and realised with a pinch that unfortunately, she had not progressed much. She was about to give up and go back to the West Tower, when her eyes wandered back to an old worn out book she had dismissed half an hour ago.

There was a page that had almost been completely torn out of the book, and was hanging loosely by one small patch of paper. The bit that was coming out from under the other pages made her narrow her eyes slightly. She swiftly turned the pages until she came to the one she was looking for. Immediately, something caught her eyes.

It was an odd black and white picture, more like an engraving really, probably dating back to the Middle-Ages, as you could tell by the lack of perspective typical of those times. It represented two men standing in a rather curious position. She looked closer and realised that they were in fact holding hands, but their fingers were touching so lightly that it could have easily been missed. Next to them stood a wizard in rather formal attire, frowning severely at them, his face distorted by what looked like anger. He was pointing an accusing finger at the two men. The picture was making her uneasy and she unconsciously shivered. It stirred something in her, something Harry had said about the fact that the voice in Draco's head wanted to break them up.

She put her hand on the page and used it as a bookmark to take a look at the title of the book again: _Obscura Medieval Magicis_. She had been right, it was indeed a book about Dark Magic of the Middle-Ages.

She opened it again and took a look at the caption under the intriguing picture. That one sentence, unlike the rest, was written in Latin, so Hermione cast a quick " _Translatere!_ " on it. She looked at it closely, observing the words slowly changing from Latin to English. As the words started making sense, she couldn't contain a small cry of excitement.

She then reached for her copy of _Potions, an Anthology_ , by Barthabas Corduris, and skimmed through it, getting more and more agitated.

When she had found what she had been looking for, she hastily put all the other books away, cleared her desk with a flick of her wand, and rushed to find Harry and Ron, the two books safely tucked under her arm.

* * *

 

"What the-" Harry said as he watched Hermione approaching fast, the books in her hands. God, was it possible that she had found something again?

She sat on the couch of the common room. "I found this book," she said holding up the _Obscura Medieval Magicis_ on her lap, leaving _Potions, an Anthology_ , on the coffee table for now.

Ron and Harry hurriedly came to sit on either side of her. Harry saw Blaise and Pansy come closer. "I found this book in the restricted section of the library, and at first, I couldn't find anything interesting in it."

"To the point, Hermione," Harry said impatiently.

"Right, look at that," Pansy and Blaise were now sitting on the floor and looking at the picture Hermione was showing them. Harry could see the two men, and the older wizard angrily pointing at them.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but I can't read Latin. What does it mean?" he said showing the caption.

"It reads, _'A father unhappy about his son's proclivities.'_ "

She looked at him. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but I still don't get it, what does that have to-"

"Well, at first, I was just drawn in by the picture, so I soon started going through the rest of the text, and the more I was reading, the more I thought it made sense, and I started thinking that it might be it," she paused. "Let me read the article in _Potions, an Anthology_ , to you now." She discarded the old book on the coffee table, grabbed the other one and opened it at the page she had magically bookmarked.

 _'Libidam Reversem,'_ she started in a teacher-like tone, _'Libidam Reversem is a powerful Dark Potion, mainly used during the Middle-Ages by members of the Wizarding Aristocracy to reverse inappropriate behaviours. The potion was used whenever a male aristocrat heir showed unrelenting desires towards other males, thus jeopardizing the continuity of the bloodline. The Potion was supposed to disgust the subject from people his own sex, and engage in more respectable physical relationships with females, allowing him to reproduce.'_ She lifted her head slightly, and their eyes met Harry's briefly, before she resumed her reading.

 _'Although the efficiency of the potion has never been fully proven, it was widely used in the fourteenth century. At the time, a raging war was taking place between England and France, and renowned Wizarding families were pressured into ensuring the continuity of the bloodline to provide more warriors and strengthen the elite.'_ "

Hermione paused again and looked at them. "Can you see the link, now? Remember what Draco told us the voice in his head was telling him?"

Harry's jaw dropped. "Wow," he finally muttered. He had never heard of such a thing before. "This is crazy! And scary! What else does it say?" he asked feverishly.

Hermione read on. _'However, it has to be noted that the potion has powerful side-effects. It includes bad headaches, loss of consciousness, and in some extreme cases, permanent loss of magic and mental health issues eventually leading to a very painful death.'_

Harry's heart skipped a beat. Very painful death. Oh, God.

"Shit!" Harry heard Blaise echo his fears.

"Wait a minute," said Ron. "I admit that most of the side-effects are matching Malfoy's, but it could absolutely be anything else! What makes you think this is what he has?"

"Well, let me read on, Ron," Hermione gently said.

"Right."

 _'The recipe for the potion disappeared for centuries before resurfacing in the 1920's. It started small, but soon several young men from famous pure-blood families were affected by the same strange disease. After intensive research led by Professor Perdorell, author of the remarkable_ Into the Wind with Potions! _, the link between this ancient powerful potion and the plague affecting those families was established.'_

_'Since then, the potion has been firmly prohibited by the Ministry so that no wizard is allowed to brew it anymore. However, concerns have been voiced regarding an alternate version of this powerful potion that would still be in use in pure-blood circles.'_

"Fuck," Harry said this time. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," he added, too taken aback for better words.

"So you understand now why I think it is a strong possibility, Harry?" Hermione murmured.

"Yeah," he said, a disgusted look on his face. "So it happens it is the parents, after all, although I would place my bet on the father," Harry said, running his hand nervously in his hair.

"I don't buy it," Pansy's high-pitched voice made Harry jump a little. "I mean, Mr Malfoy would never do something like that to Draco, he loves his son! No, I think you're way out of your minds on this one."

Blaise turned to her. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised to be honest. Remember what Draco told us about the way his father had reacted when Nott had outed him over Christmas? We talked about it later on, you and me, and you agreed that Mr Malfoy's reaction had been surprisingly mild, not at all what we would have expected. If he is desperate enough to have an heir and not let the Malfoy name become extinct, well I, for one, wouldn't really be surprised that he would do anything to get what he wants," he added.

"But why would he do that? I mean, do you really think he would deliberately endanger his son's life?" Pansy insisted.

"Well, maybe he didn't know about the side-effects?" provided Ron.

"Surely he must have known about them! It's written all over here!" Harry blurted.

"Not if the version Malfoy has is the more recent one, no. He may not have any knowledge about them at all," Hermione replied.

"God, do you know what it means?" Harry stood up. "It means that Malfoy is slowly killing his own son, and for what? For the sake of the fucking bloodline? Well, what good will it do to the Malfoy name once the last heir is dead?" he was nearly shouting now.

"Harry, nothing has been proven yet, these are only hypotheses. But we definitely have to go and see McGonagall with what we've found and actively start searching for an antidote, provided there is one."

"Right, let's go now, then," and they all hurried out of the common room.

* * *

 

Ron, Hermione and Harry first went to Draco and Harry's bedroom to retrieve the parcel containing the three vials of potions inside. Then they ran more than walked to McGonagall's office, where they explained everything to her: they told her about the Libidam Reversem Potion, how they thought Lucius Malfoy had tried to change Draco's sexual orientation in order to perpetuate the Malfoy's bloodline, and how they suspected he had mixed the potion with one of the three Narcissa was sending her son every week to calm his headaches.

The Headmistress listened very intently to their explanations. When they were finished, she said. "Well, I'm sure you understand that these are very serious accusations," she looked at them sternly. "But if there's even a slight bit of truth in what you're saying, then we need to go and find Horace right now, and tell him everything so that he can analyse those vials immediately."

Harry felt so relieved. Things were finally getting in gear!

The four of them hurriedly walked until they finally reached the Dungeons and the Potions Classroom.

"Harry, my boy! What are y-" Slughorn's smile faded quickly when he caught a glimpse of the serious faces they all sported now.

"Horace, we need you to analyse those three potions, immediately!" McGonagall said in an authoritative voice.

"Well, of course, Minerva," Slughorn replied, looking slightly taken aback by their nervous ways. "And what is it exactly that we are looking for?"

Hermione explained everything once again, and even showed him the pages in the _Obscura Medieval Magicis_ and _Potions, an Anthology_ , books she had taken with her. Slughorn nodded, looking incredibly serious and focused, like Harry had barely seen him before.

Finally, he said, "Right, let's do that, then," and started analysing the three potions.

It seemed to Harry the whole process was taking hours. Slughorn carefully held the first vial, took a good look at it, before finally uncorking it. He smelled it for a while, before muttering, mostly to himself, "Um… Dreamless Sleep Potion, good." He then carefully emptied the content of the vial in the cauldron in front of him and started adding various ingredients to it, absent-mindedly stirring the concoction with his wand a few times. Harry realised he knew most of the ingredients added, although he had no idea what the old teacher was doing exactly.

After a while, Slughorn dipped the ladle into the cauldron and poured its content with great care into a small tube. He then flicked his wand, murmured, _"revelio,"_ and when nothing happened, discarded the first vial.

"Absolutely nothing in this one," he stated, before taking hold of the second vial.

The second one, it appeared, contained no more Libidam Reversem than the first.

When the third one – the Calming Draught – showed no more trace of the powerful potion, Harry felt like his world was falling apart again.

He took a quick look at Ron and Hermione who seemed as surprised as he was.

"I don't understand…" he said. "It was supposed to be in there! I'm sure it's in here somewhere!"

"How could I have been so wrong?" Hermione muttered, almost to herself, "Merlin, I was sure it was in there!" she didn't seem to believe her eyes either.

"Horace, are you sure there is no trace of the Libidam Reversem Potion in those three vials whatsoever?" McGonagall demanded.

"Absolutely sure, Minerva. These vials only contain the regular potions to cure headaches and lack of sleep, nothing more," he affirmed.

Harry slouched heavily on the nearest chair. "I- How come we…" Shit, they had been so sure! Their theory was the right one, he knew it deep inside of him! But if the Potion hadn't been mixed in one of the three vials, how did Lucius managed to get Draco to ingest it?

He suddenly froze and felt a rush of adrenalin course through his body as he stood at once, almost making himself dizzy at the suddenness of his gesture.

"THE SWEETS!" he shouted pointing at the box that was still resting on the desk in front of Slughorn. For a moment the others looked at him like he had gone mad.

"IT'S IN THE SWEETS! If it's not in his mother's potions, then it must be in the sweets!"

Ron seemed to finally realise what Harry was saying and hastily took hold of the huge parcel, taking a quick look at its content. The sweets Narcissa Malfoy had sent along with the potions were still in there!

"Professor, could you analyse them right now, please?" Harry asked anxiously.

But Slughorn had already grabbed a handful of Chocoballs, emptied his cauldron with a flick of his wand and thrown them hastily in it.

They were all holding their breath and an impressive silence had taken place in the small classroom.

Nothing happened with the Chocoballs. It wasn't in the Fizzing Whizzbees either, and Harry started to lose hope as Slughorn was about to test the last treat.

Suddenly, something happened. A small explosion, followed by a huge amount of vapours escaping the cauldron and then everything went back to normal. Oh, God, could it mean-?

"There's something there!" Slughorn said intensely. The tension in the room was incredible now, everybody was completely focused on the teacher's precise movements as he retrieved the vial of Potions and murmured _"revelio,"_ one more time with a flick of his wand.

Harry's eyes opened wide as the potion started swirling like mad in the small tube and finally turned dark red.

"It's in there!" Slughorn said triumphantly. "Looks like you were right, my boy!" he added, and Harry could have hugged him right here and then. He was feeling so incredibly relieved! There it was! The proof they needed! The Libidam Reversem Potion had been injected into the Chocolate Frogs!

"Thank you, Horace, but I'm afraid, we're not nearly done, here," McGonagall continued, and her serious tone sobered him up rapidly. "We now need you to find an antidote to it. Do you think you can do it, Horace?"

"Here is the complete list of ingredients of the potion," Hermione stepped in, shoving the open book right in front of Slughorn's eyes. "Do you think you could work from it?" she added, hopeful.

Slughorn scanned the list of ingredients, which was pretty impressive compared to the one they were asked to use in their own potions, even at the advanced level. Suddenly, Harry saw Slughorn's face fall and the Potions Professor turned pale.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Harry in a rough voice.

"It's the last ingredient…"

Hermione leaned forward and read it aloud. _"Pure blood of a direct member of the family,"_ she whispered.

"What does it mean?" Harry was trying to remain calm, but his voice was slightly trembling.

"It means, Harry," McGonagall slowly said, enunciating each word very carefully, as if afraid they would hurt them, "that in order to make the antidote, one has to use the same blood that was included in the original potion."

Oh God.

"Malfoy. We need Lucius Malfoy's blood to make the antidote," Harry muttered.

"And I must add unfortunately that regarding the advanced symptoms the young Malfoy has been showing, we don't have much time," Slughorn added, looking surprisingly anxious.

Harry felt a shiver run through his spine and shake his body to the core. "How long?" he found the courage to ask.

"Harry-" Hermione squeezed his arm gently, but he ignored her.

"How long do we have?" he repeated coldly, trying so hard not to let panic invade his body.

Slughorn looked deep into his eyes, and finally murmured, "a few hours" his voice broke, and he cleared his throat, "a day at the most." The words stabbed Harry hard in the chest, and he suddenly felt completely empty, as the meaning of Slughorn's words finally sank in deep inside of him.


	21. Resolve

Harry left Hermione with Slughorn to assist him in the preparation of the antidote. They had decided to start brewing it right away, since the " _pure blood of a direct member of the family_ ," i.e., Lucius Malfoy's, wasn't needed until the very end and the preparation would probably take them well into the night anyway.

Harry and Ron were now following McGonagall back to her quarters. The Headmistress wanted to Firecall the Malfoys immediately from her office, to reach them as soon as possible. Harry was silently praying they would be able to come over quickly. He tried very hard not to think of the consequences if they didn't.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice McGonagall and Ron had stopped dead in front of him, and he bumped hard into his friend's back.

"Ouch! Sorry, Ron, but why in hell did you st-" he froze as he realised why they had paused there in the first place.

A blonde middle-aged pale witch was standing right before the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmistress's office.

Narcissa Malfoy.

Harry was amazed at how tiny Draco's mother looked in her elegant silver robes. Her face bore the remains of dried tears, and she looked utterly exhausted, as if she had not slept in a while. She was holding her hands nervously and looked positively distraught. Of course, she must be incredibly worried! Her only son was dying, lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

"I have to talk to you," she told McGonagall in a very soft, slightly trembling voice.

"I was about to Firecall you anyway, Madam Malfoy," McGonagall replied. "Let's go into my office then."

They all entered the room, but Draco's mother remained silent, as if in shock.

"Please take a seat," McGonagall said courtly before sitting at her desk. Narcissa Malfoy removed her cloak and folded it neatly, before letting it rest on the armchair's back. Harry sat in the seat next to her, while Ron was leaning on the wall near the window, arms folded on his chest. The tension in the room was very much palpable. No one was making a sound.

"How is Draco?" Narcissa asked in a very low voice, as if afraid of the answer. Harry noticed her hands were trembling slightly, and she was playing with her wedding ring nervously.

McGonagall looked at her above her spectacles. "He's… not doing too well. I'm afraid I don't have very good news." And she told Draco's mother everything. The witch was getting paler and paler – something Harry didn't think possible – as new information concerning her son was delivered to her. When McGonagall arrived to the point where Draco only had a few hours left if the antidote wasn't given to him soon, she closed her eyes, and silent tears started falling down her cheeks. Harry saw her lips tremble and on an impulse, he put his hand on top of hers.

She flicked her eyes open, and turned to look deep into his eyes.

"You love him, don't you?" she asked him, tears running down her cheeks, her voice almost a whisper.

God, yes, he loved Draco, Merlin, how he loved him! He realised with a jolt that he had never loved anyone like that in his whole life. He gazed at her and nodded.

"I knew it… and I knew Draco was in love… I felt it when he came home for Christmas, he was so… happy, lightheaded and confident at the same time. I had never seen him like that before. And then, when I saw the two of you the other day, I just- it was so obvious! The love was radiating between you two," she paused and took his hand in hers. "Salazar, I wished I had listened to him when he confided in me, instead of clinging to this crazy nonsense!" Tears were flowing down her beautiful face now, and Harry felt his heart break at the sight. "And now it is too late! I may never be able to talk to him again!" she sobbed.

"Madam Malfoy," McGonagall said after a short while, "there  _is_  a way of saving Draco, an antidote to the potion he's been ingesting for weeks. Professor Slughorn and Miss Granger are working on it as we speak," she paused and Harry noticed something had changed in Narcissa Malfoy's eyes. Hope, maybe. "The only problem is that we need your husband's blood to complete it, since we strongly believe he used it in the potion. Without it, there won't be any antidote, and Draco-" she came to a stop as Draco's mother's let out a small cry of despair, and Harry tightened his grip on her hands.

"Madam Malfoy, this is very important," Harry stepped in, trying to remain focused on the task at hand and not let his emotions completely take over his mind. "Could you please ask your husband to come here right now?"

She looked at him for a while, and then answered in a barely audible voice. "I- I can't… Lucius is… gone, he's gone, and I have no idea where he is!" she crumbled to pieces and started crying in earnest.

Harry's heart skipped a beat at the news. Oh no. It couldn't- He stood up at once, and ran his fingers in his hair nervously, before saying in a hoarse voice. "How- how long has he been gone?" trying to sound calm, but the fire was burning inside of him.

"Since yesterday night. I haven't seen him since after dinner," she added tearfully. "Oh Merlin, why have things turned so awful all of the sudden?" she asked the room, bringing her hands to her face.

"Well, we have to find him, now! You have no idea where he could be?"

"No, I'm afraid, I don't!" Narcissa replied sheepishly. "May I- May I see my son, now, please?" she added in a whisper.

"Well, we were all about to go and check on him anyway," the Headmistress said.

Narcissa turned to Harry again. "Harry? Will you come with us? I think I could use an arm to lean on, if you don't mind." She still had tears on her cheeks, but she wasn't crying anymore.

God, Harry was so angry! He wanted to leave right away, to look for Malfoy in every fucking corner of the country, to do something, anything, not just stand there and watch the boy he loved so much die slowly but surely! But he was utterly helpless. There was nothing he could do right now, and he needed to see Draco so bad, that in the end, he sighed and nodded.

"Right, well, I suppose I'll come with you then!" Ron said and they left the Headmistress's office in silence, all lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

Harry knew there was something wrong the second he set foot in the hospital wing. His eyes anxiously roamed over the endless alignment of beds, Narcissa Malfoy still on his arm, and soon his eyes were on Draco.

He froze mid-way as something incredibly weird was happening in front of his eyes.

Draco was  _glowing_.

A pale-blue halo was radiating all around his head and shoulders, encircling him like a giant crown of light.

Harry's eyes next wandered lower on the bed and stopped on what looked like a body. A motionless body that was slouched sideways over Draco's legs. A very recognisable pool of long white-blond hair was displayed all over the blankets.

"No!" shouted Narcissa, as she ran to her husband and son, Harry, Ron and McGonagall in toe, quickly followed by Madam Pomfrey, who looked completely taken aback by the situation.

"I- I don't understand!" she was saying. "Everything was normal, I checked on him a few minutes ago and things were just as they had been!" she went on, all the while hastily walking to the bed.

Before she could reach it though, Narcissa threw herself on Draco, running her hands all over her son's face, crying hard, and hastily checking his heartbeat. Harry couldn't move, hypnotised by what was happening before his eyes, and his brain couldn't seem to make his body react in the proper way.

"Madam Malfoy," he heard McGonagall call, but Draco's mother didn't react.

"Narcissa," she insisted, and gently took her away from her son and husband. The Headmistress then looked at Harry who got the hint and he took the witch in his arms. At first it felt a bit weird, to be honest, to be holding Narcissa Malfoy in his arms like that, but soon he stopped thinking about the whole thing. She was Draco's mother, and she needed comfort. So he held her close, and told her words of comfort. She seemed to hesitate as well, feeling a bit tense in Harry's arms, before finally resting her head on his shoulder, sobbing quietly, while McGonagall was trying to figure out what was going on.

She checked on Draco first, while Madam Pomfrey was focusing on his father. It was an impressive sight to see the two witches working side to side like that, and amongst all the drama, Harry couldn't help being fascinated. McGonagall flicked her wand over Draco a few times before finally saying. "He's alive," in an assured voice, "just still deeply asleep, but no worse than he had been in the last few hours," and Harry felt incredibly relieved at her words. He felt Ron's hand squeeze his shoulder and felt grateful for his friend's reassuring presence.

"What's this thing around him, then?" Harry asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"Well, I don't know yet, but I couldn't find anything threatening in it."

Harry's eyes then diverted to Lucius Malfoy as Madam Pomfrey swirled her wand above him in complicated patterns. The wizard was resting on his stomach, his arms folded under him, unconscious – or dead, Harry fleetingly thought, dread suddenly coursing his body as he took a good look at the inanimate form resting on Draco's legs.

"This one's alive too, although something is wrong with him, terribly wrong," Madam Pomfrey muttered. She then flicked her wand once more, and managed to levitate his body enough to turn him over onto his back and Harry took a look at his face.

He looked terrible. The wizard was the shadow of his own self, really. He was so pale, it matched the bed sheets perfectly. He hadn't shaved, was incredibly dishevelled and had huge bags under his eyes. But what was the most terrifying, were his eyes. They were open, and empty, cold. They looked as if Lucius Malfoy's soul had escaped his body and only left an empty shell.

Narcissa suddenly let out a loud cry and buried her face in Harry's shoulders, and it took Harry a couple of seconds to realise why she had reacted like this. He gasped as his eyes slowly wandered down the wizard's body.

It was covered in blood.

Narcissa Malfoy, usually such a strong woman, was crying restlessly. "Lucius, oh, Lucius, what have you done?" she was asking the room, as tears were flooding down her face. Harry was desperately trying to bring her comfort, but was thoroughly shaken himself. He forced himself to look at the wizard again.

Lucius Malfoy had both his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the Dark Mark still clearly visible, and he was holding a silver dagger in his left hand. The object reminded Harry of the one Voldemort had once used on him to take his blood a long time ago, and he shivered at the memory.

Malfoy's right forearm was hidden under an incredible amount of blood that was seeping from a large wound that had apparently just been made, and was running from his wrist up to his elbow.

At that point, McGonagall took matters in hand and conjured a small vial out of an empty glass that had been resting on Draco's nightstand. She then pointed her wand on Lucius Malfoy's right arm and murmured " _transferro_." Harry's eyes opened wide as Malfoy's blood was slowly being lifted from his wound by the tip of her wand, right into the small vial in one, long, thin stream.

She then corked the vial and took it in her hand, before turning to Ron. "Mr Weasley," and Harry felt his friend flinch at the authoritative tone, "please go and take this to Professor Slughorn immediately!"

Ron nodded, apparently as unable to utter a single word as Harry was, and hastily grabbed the vial, leaving the hospital wing in a rush.

At that point, Harry felt blood returning to every part of his body, as it slowly dawned on him that, that was it, Draco was about to be saved! He felt like a huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. Narcissa must have come to the same conclusion, since he felt her body relax a bit, and she left his arms to come closer to Draco. She put her hand on his face, gently stroking his cheek, and then placing a kiss on his forehead, muttering apologies to him.

All of the sudden, the light that had been surrounding Draco flickered slightly, dimming gradually before finally disappearing completely. Harry had no idea what that had been and just hoped the fact the light had gone was no bad omen.

He then turned his attention back to Madam Pomfrey who was now whispering, " _Tergeo._ " The blood that had been staining the bed sheets and the older wizard's clothes was slowly evaporating, leaving the wound very visible now. She retrieved a small bottle from the pocket of her robes, and opened it hastily. She then poured three drops on the wizard's still bleeding wound.  _Essence of dittany_ , Harry thought distractingly, as he remembered Hermione using it on Ron the previous year when he had been splinched after they had escaped the Death Eaters in the café. Like the year before, the wound stopped bleeding immediately and the flesh closed, leaving only a fine line on the wizard's forearm.

She then used her wand again, this time to levitate Malfoy's body from Draco's bed and let him slowly land on the bed right next to his son's.

* * *

Hermione was deeply concentrated on the perilous task they were trying to accomplish. She knew that if they missed only one little thing, the whole potion would be useless, and they would have to do the whole process all over again.

And they might not have this luxury.

Funnily, in those extremely tense moments, Slughorn was his usual self, talking non-stop about one experience or the other, about previous potions he had created, and how the making of an antidote was something special, that needed extra precautions.

Hermione was cutting her fifth rat's tail, and was about to hand it to the Professor when Ron appeared, out of breath and completely flushed, his cheeks almost as red as his hair. He leaned for a second on the doorframe with his left hand, trying to catch his breath, while handing the vial to Hermione.

"Here-," he said, panting heavily, "Mal- Malfoy's blood!" he managed to say, before walking to them.

"How- How did you get-" she started, but Ron interrupted her.

"I'll explain later, for now," he said, trying to catch his breath.

Hermione looked at him tenderly for a second. She looked at the vial, and handed it to Slughorn who looked at it swiftly, before casting it aside for later, when the potion would be nearly finished.

They worked again for about ten minutes, before the Potions Professor finally opened the small bottle with great ceremony, and it was only then that Hermione realised he had been truly nervous about the whole thing. Non-stop talking was probably just his way to release stress.

He set his wand to turn the potion anti-clockwise, waiting until it looked homogenous enough before finally pouring seven drops of Malfoy's blood in the mud-coloured potion.

The three of them were holding their breath. At first, nothing happened. A white cloud of smoke escaped from the cauldron, then a smaller one and that was it. The potion instantly cleared at once, and finally took its definite blue colour.

Slughorn then let out a small cry of victory, and turned to Hermione to hug her. She was slightly surprised by the gesture, but returned it nonetheless, feeling incredibly relieved.

She then went to hug Ron, and placed a deep kiss on his lips, letting out a sigh of relief before burying her neck in his shoulder, and closing her eyes for a moment.

The professor finally plunged the ladle into the cauldron, and filled another vial with the antidote. The three of them then rushed upstairs, to the hospital wing.

* * *

At the sight of his beaming friends entering the room, Harry felt a rush of adrenalin course through his body. They had it! The antidote!

Slughorn hastily gave it to Madam Pomfrey who muttered, " _rennervate!_ " and Draco slowly, very slowly opened his eyes. Harry knew the spell was only artificially waking him up at the moment, as confirmed by the emptiness of Draco's eyes, but he didn't care. It was all they needed for him to ingest the antidote.

Everybody was now gathered around the bed and Madam Pomfrey slowly brought the vial to Draco's lips, holding his head firmly in place with her other hand. She then started to pour the content of the small bottle into Draco's mouth, and he jerked at the contact at first, but Madam Pomfrey didn't let go. She managed to get him to swallow all of its content, and she gently released his head, allowing him to rest it on the pillows.

Draco then closed his eyes again.

"How long before he wakes up again?" Narcissa whispered.

"It depends," Madam Pomfrey answered. "It could be anything from a couple of minutes to ten days."

Harry gasped. Ten days? Fuck, that would be long! But at least, Draco was saved, and that was all that mattered now, really.

"And what about-" Draco's mother started again.

"Your husband? Well, that's going to be a lot more complicated," provided Madam Pomfrey. "He's been badly hurt, and there are still many things we don't know yet. But when Draco wakes up, hopefully without any permanent damage, we'll be able to investigate his condition and heal him the best that we can."

Harry couldn't believe it. Draco was saved! His Draco, the boy he had come to know and love so much, would soon wake up, and everything would be as before! Well, almost as before, since Harry didn't know if Draco would be able to recover his magic at all. But he was alive, and it was all that mattered at the moment. McGonagall seemed to have read his thoughts, since she turned to Draco's mother.

"Madam Malfoy," she said, "We may have saved Draco, but there was nothing we could do about his magic…" Narcissa flinched at the words, but remained composed. Harry couldn't help noticing the contrast between the Narcissa from now, who had her emotions well under control, and the Narcissa he had held in his arms previously.

"I know… but he is alive. That's all that matters. We can always deal with the rest later on," she added in a soft voice.

"And I'll be there to help as well," Harry stated.

"Of course you will," Narcissa whispered gently, her eyes bright.

"Well, well, what a lovely reunion!" a voice snarled in between them and Harry jumped at the wonderful familiar sound. Draco! Draco was awake! Harry couldn't hide the excitement he was feeling right now, all mixed up with many different feelings such as elation, joy, and utter relief; Draco was finally back!

Everybody started talking at the same time, and Harry saw Narcissa smiling widely at her son, caressing his hair gently, and he wanted very much to do the same, but instead stepped aside to give them space. However, Narcissa would hear nothing of it, and hastily took him by the hand, gently enjoining him to come closer to her son, and finally Harry leant forward, and plunged his eyes into his boyfriend's and it took a second for them to reconnect again, before Draco sent his hands on Harry's cheeks, pulling him to himself and planted a deep, languorous kiss on his lips. Harry closed his eyes and nothing else mattered, not the people around the bed, nor the terrible ordeal they had just been through, nothing but Draco's incredibly soft lips and the feeling of being finally, very much back home.

* * *

Draco was still somehow in shock.

He was replaying the events of the last few hours in his head, nervously rolling Harry's Christmas present in his fingers. Holding the small golden ball in his hands brought him incredible comfort, even though he couldn't make it work anymore.

After the first moments of joy at the realisation that he was, not only awake, but also definitely out of trouble, had come the time for explanations.

And it had hurt.

Very much so.

That his father, the man he admired the most, his role model despite all his imperfections, had tried to change him, his only son, wounded him much more than he would admit. It wasn't the fact that he had nearly died in the process, because he knew his father had never, ever wished him dead, no, it was the fact that his  _preference_  disgusted his father so much that he had been willing to try and change him. Make him someone else. Like Draco wasn't good enough for him. A disappointment. As if his father would have preferred someone else as a son, someone like Blaise for example, who didn't fool around with boys…

But as he was gently stroking the smooth surface of the Snitch with his thumb, he knew he wouldn't change. He just couldn't. Not now. Not after all he had been through over the last few weeks.

No.

It was too late.

He was so very much in love with Harry, that for now, he couldn't imagine living in a world where they wouldn't be together. It was stupid, he knew it, because they were only eighteen, and their relationship was still pretty recent, but that's how he was feeling deep inside.

He would never marry a woman. He just couldn't picture that happening. Every time he tried to imagine what it would be like, his heart just broke. He knew he could lose everything: the family fortune, the manor he had grown up in, even the love of his father – provided he ever woke up, he thought with a heavy heart… but he just couldn't. There was this kind of force deep inside of him, right there in his gut, that just rebelled at the thought.

On the other hand, he could very much imagine himself living with Harry in ten years' time. Or even in twenty. Merlin, that sounded like so far away! They would be so old! But he could picture it, he simply could. And every time he was trying to imagine what it would be like, the thought of it just warmed his heart immensely and it felt amazing.

He took a glance at his father, still resting unconscious on the bed to his left. His pale face was rendered even paler by the moonlight gently caressing his features. He sighed heavily. It was his father who had rescued him in the end. But not without damage. The man had not recovered from whatever had happened yet, and probably never would. Draco's heart was heavy at the thought. Despite everything, he loved his father. And he needed him in his life. God, he couldn't imagine what it had been like for Harry to grow up without parents…

He tried once again to get some sleep, but it was just too hard. And he had slept enough for the next ten years. He wanted Harry. He wanted to be held in his arms, he wanted to hear loving words whispered in his ears, he wanted to feel the heat of his body against his. He wanted to make love to him. Badly.

Unfortunately, Harry hadn't been allowed to stay for the night and Draco had been left to rest in the hospital wing beside his father. Madam Pomfrey had been quite strict about the whole thing, and no matter how much the two boys had pleaded, he had had to stay here in the end. Draco thought that Madam Pomfrey was somehow still trying to make up for last time, when she had released him out of the hospital wing before knowing exactly what had been wrong with him. Oh well, he would see Harry in the morning anyway.

He took a good look at the Snitch again, playing with the moonlight, trying to project small spots of light on the walls of the hospital wing. He sighed again heavily, his breath brushing against it. And that's when it happened. His heart skipped a beat and he was nearly knocked off his bed when five little words appeared on it, magically glowing.

_I love you, Draco – Harry._

He choked, closed his eyes, counted to three and opened them again. The words were still there. He tried to remain calm. There probably was an explanation. Maybe Harry had done something to it while he had been out, so that Draco could still see the words without the magic bond.

But still.

He had to check. He hastily sat on his bed, and tried, really hard, not to get too overexcited at the thought, that maybe, maybe, there could be a tiny chance his magic had returned.

He fumbled into the pocket of his robes but found nothing. Shit. Where was his wand? He checked the bedside table but found nothing there either. And then he remembered. He had left it in the empty classroom the day he had realised he had lost his magic.

Harry. Harry must have it. Harry had surely picked it up after Draco had stormed out of the room. Yes, Harry wouldn't have left Draco's wand there.

He made up his mind quickly. He had to know, and it couldn't wait.

Despite his excitation, he got up slowly, knowing his body hadn't recovered completely and he didn't want to collapse again; he had had enough of that lately. He quickly dressed and headed for the door.

* * *

Harry was having the most incredible dream.

He was back in Draco's arms, finally, and they were kissing and groping like mad. They were both stark naked, desperately hard, their erections rubbing against one another feverishly. Merlin, that was hot!

"Missed me?" Draco suddenly asked him, and he felt his boyfriend's soft lips on him once again. Although this time it felt very real. So very fucking real. Not at all like a dream. Harry shot his eyes open and jerked back in shock at the sight of his boyfriend, his very  _real_  boyfriend – although right now, he was slightly blurry, due to Harry's lack of glasses - sitting on the edge of his – their – bed, all smiles.

"What the fuck, Draco, you scared me to death! What are you doing here?" Harry whispered, hastily putting his glasses back on his nose.

"Well, I was feeling a little bit lonely in the hospital wing, so I thought, that maybe, you know, I could find company," he smiled again.

That smile! Merlin, how Harry had missed that smile! It was so good to see it back on Draco's beautiful face!

"I'm glad you came to see me, then!"

"Yeah, well, the others weren't available, so…" Draco replied cheekily.

"Prat!" Harry answered, shoving him. Draco lost his balance, which diverted the flickering light of his wand from his face.

Wait a minute.

Light from Draco's wand?

Harry gaped in shock and saw the very satisfied smug on his boyfriend's face.

"Draco!" he almost shouted, before remembering it was the middle of the night. "Your magic! It- It's back!" Harry was in shock. How was it possible?

"Well, very much so, yes!" Draco's grin was so big it nearly reached his ears.

"But- how?"

"I have no idea! But it's back, look!" and with that, he murmured, " _nudere!_ " Harry's night clothes suddenly vanished, and he found himself stark naked.

Harry laughed hard, and threw himself at his boyfriend, making him fall on his back on the bed, before straddling him and kissing him like mad, never wanting to let him go.

Soon, Draco's clothes were gone as well, and Harry found himself in the very same situation as in his dream. Although this time, it wasn't a dream. Draco was well and truly back. For real.


	22. Closure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter for The Greyest Eyes! Next week, I will post the Epilogue to this story! :D

The first few days after taking the antidote, Draco had to stay in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey wanting to make sure he was recovering all right before sending him away. He was supposed to stay at least a week in there, but had made a point of being so insufferable to the healer, that she had finally given in and released him after only four days. Harry was impressed at Madam Pomfrey for lasting as long as four days, knowing what a bored and constantly complaining Draco could be like.

Lucius Malfoy's state was not getting worse, although it wasn't really improving either. Once Madam Pomfrey had considered him stable enough to do so, she had transferred him to St Mungo's. She would still visit him every day, and exchange with the healers there concerning the evolution of her ex-patient. Nothing much had changed though, regarding his general state. He had still not woken up, but at least he wasn't getting worse.

Harry had mixed feelings concerning Lucius Malfoy. He hated the guy, and had for a very long time. Now, after what he had just done to Draco, almost killing him in the process, he despised the guy even more and, as far as he was concerned, didn't really care if he would make it or not.

However, he was still Draco's father, and Harry imagined it was hard for Draco to come to terms with the ambivalent feelings he probably had regarding his father. Harry reckoned he didn't know enough about father/son relationships to voice his opinion out loud, even though he found it somewhat hard to understand how Draco could still be worried over his father after all the bastard had done to hurt him.

The whole school knew about all that had happened to Draco. People couldn't help babbling about it wherever Harry went, so he was happy when Draco was finally back that they were together to face it.

The very first time they entered the Great Hall together was nerve-wracking. They had decided not to hide, but not to rub their relationship in people's faces either, so they were just walking side by side, not even holding hands. Harry was so nervous, his palms were incredibly sweaty anyway, and his legs were trembling. The whole room went silent at the sight of the two of them walking in together, and soon whispers started to rumble, the sound of it reverberating on the high ceiling of the impressive room.

They had decided to eat at their usual spots. Most of Harry's friends already knew about them, so it wasn't a big deal anyway. The whispers soon subsided and the students returned to their usual chitchat.

Hermione had apparently been waiting for Harry, and he raised an eyebrow at the huge bunch of newspapers she had next to her.

"These are the latest issues from the  _Prophet_  I received during the last few days," she explained. "Since you're once again making the headlines, I thought that I would keep them for you in case you would like to read what was in there."

"Er, thanks, Hermione, but I-"

"It's not too bad, I promise, and I just wanted you to know they were there, in case you wanted to read them."

"Okay, thank you, I guess," Harry replied sceptically. He wasn't sure he was totally ready to see what the  _Prophet_  was saying about him this time. Not that he had wanted to know about that before. He put the stack of papers on the floor next to him, intending to take a peek at them – or not – later on.

* * *

One of the great things about being out, Draco thought, was that Harry and he could finally spend time together without fear of being discovered. The first few days were a bit awkward in that regard, because every time one of them had some kind of affectionate gesture in public it made the other jump a little, before they remembered that everybody knew about them now, and that they didn't have to hide anymore.

Of course, some people frowned on their relationship. Students who had lost members of their family in the war resented Draco for 'perverting' the Chosen One, and let him know how they felt about that, sometimes loud and clear. Most of the time, there were just insults, but once, Draco had been hexed from behind. He had turned fast to face his aggressor, but everybody had gone. All in all, it could have been much worse.

They could now walk, talk and laugh together, without being afraid of raising the others' suspicion. And it felt incredibly good. Liberating. Things were different in class as well. They were now sitting together in every class they shared. Draco enjoyed the possibility it left him to grope his boyfriend under the table, and revelled in the reactions his touches elicited in Harry. He loved seeing him blush whenever he was resting his hand on his thigh and slowly bringing it closer to his groin. He also loved the way Harry looked at him, with a saucy look holding lots of promises for the hours to come, when they would finally be alone in their room.

Their room.

It was funny how over the last few weeks, it had become just that. Their room. It wasn't Draco's anymore, but Draco and Harry's. And it felt great. He remembered how he had never allowed anyone but Pansy in there before, and the complaints Theo had made when he had told him he would never let him in his private space. Merlin, it seemed like years ago!

On that clear afternoon of late March, Draco was trying very hard not to fall asleep, and desperately focus on whatever Flitwick was saying, but it felt like an impossible thing to achieve. He was slouched at his desk, his cheek resting on the palm on his hand, propped on one elbow, bored to death.

There was an assured knock on the door, and Draco raised his head. McGonagall appeared in the doorframe, searching the room, and finally meeting Draco's gaze. His heart leapt in his chest.

Father.

"Excuse me, Professor, could I borrow Mr Malfoy, for a moment?"

"Of course, Minerva, Mr Malfoy?" but Draco hadn't waited for the teacher to allow him to go. He was near McGonagall in a flash.

* * *

"First of all, I want you to know that your father is awake and rather well, regarding the circumstances," McGonagall told him right after he had closed the door to the classroom. Draco felt as if a huge weight had abruptly been lifted from his shoulders. His father was okay. He was going to make it.

He had been imagining the worst over the last few days, and had come to a rather simple conclusion: he resented his father for what he had done to him, very much so, but Lucius Malfoy was still his father, and Draco couldn't imagine him out of his life.

He suddenly realised that the Headmistress had remained quite silent for a while and wondered fleetingly if there was something else.

"But?" he finally muttered, and braced himself, expecting something really bad.

McGonagall paused in the empty corridor, and faced him, searching his face for a while. Merlin, he was starting to be really scared. But then, his father was alive so the rest didn't matter much.

"He has lost his magic."

"What do you mean? Like I had?" And then it struck him. "Did my father-"

"Your father has lost his magic when he transferred all of it to you, yes, Mr Malfoy. That he did," McGonagall confirmed his doubts.

Draco felt his knees wobble under him. He had to sit. He dragged himself along to the nearest windowsill and slouched on it, completely overwhelmed by what he had just learned. His father, such a talented, powerful wizard, a Squib? No, it couldn't! It would kill him!

"H- how?" he managed to ask, his voice raspy.

"He used a very ancient spell, called  _Magicum Relinquere_. It drained all the magic out of his body and then transferred it all to you. That's why his body needed days to recover after it happened."

"But is it-"

"Reversible?" finished McGonagall. "No, it's not. I'm afraid your father is no longer a wizard," she added in a low voice.

He felt tears coming up in his eyes.

* * *

Draco followed McGonagall through the window that was the gateway for St Mungo's. He had only been there once in his life, and that was years ago, when he was still a little boy and had been bitten by a kneazle.

They headed directly for the fourth floor, the part of Saint Mungo's devoted to Spell Damage. They followed a long corridor, before McGonagall stopped in front of a blue door.

"Mr Malfoy, I cannot stay with you here, but I have given instructions to your mother so that she takes you back to the castle via the hospital's Floo network," she said in her usual stern voice.

"Right, thank you," he managed to say, already too distracted by the thought of seeing his father again to really pay attention to the Headmistress's words. She nodded and left. Draco took a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever was waiting for him on the other side. He knocked, and the tired voice of his mother invited him to come in.

His breath caught in his throat at the sight of his father looking so weak and vulnerable in his bed. He was incredibly pale, as if all the blood had been drained from his face. He had huge bags under his eyes, and his usually shiny hair looked incredibly dull. Draco couldn't take his eyes off him. His mother came to greet him, took his hands in hers, and hugged him tight. He closed his eyes for a second, resting his chin on her shoulder and letting her delicate flowery scent fill up his nostrils.

"Draco…" Lucius' voice made Draco shiver and he flicked his eyes open.

"Father," Draco said coldly, finally breaking his mother's embrace. After the relief at learning that his father would finally live – although _sans_ magic – came the anger at what he had done. Draco felt it creeping up inside of him, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it tamed for too long.

He slowly walked closer to the bed, before settling before his father, the man who had been so influent and powerful once, and who looked so incredibly frail and vulnerable now.

"Draco, my s-"

"How could you? How could you do this to me?" Draco blurted, his fingers shaking. He kept his hands firmly hidden behind his back, clenched tight together. Even there he didn't want his father to taunt him about a so-called weakness. Old habits die hard.

"Draco-"

"How on earth could you do this to me for fuck's sake?" He strangely expected his father to rouse him for his bad language but he remained silent. "Why would you try to change me? Was I such a disappointment to you that you wished to shape me into something I'm not, me, your only son?"

Lucius sighed heavily. "Please let me explain."

But Draco couldn't stop, not now that he was finally able to get everything off his chest, he just couldn't. "I have always,  _always_ , Father, showed you nothing but utter respect, and I admired you so much, I kept defending your actions even when they weren't defendable. I've always stood by you, while you…" he paused and shook his head in disbelief, "you never really loved me for what I truly am. Sure, you like the idea of me, of me being the male heir to the Malfoy name, but you don't love me for what I am deep inside." Draco had managed to silence his father, something he had never experienced before, and it felt exhilarating.

"I've tried so much to please you, Father, to behave the way I thought you wanted me to, I tried to comply with this image you had of the perfect son. Hell, when you were in Azkaban, I took your place, leading the house and going as far as taking the fucking Dark Mark so that you would be proud of me, so that I would finally, for once, see that glimpse of pride in your eyes that I was dying to see!"

"But it was never enough, there was always something wrong with me. And while I am so many other things, Father, all you could focus on over Christmas was how I was the shame of the family, and how you would be rejected by your so-called friends. So yes, Father, I'm bent, queer, a pillow-biter, an arse-bandit, a faggot, yes, Father, I like cock and that will never change, ever, because that's just the way I am and nothing, you hear me, nothing could ever change that! No petty threats, no punishment, not even your fricking potion could change that!"

He was beside himself now, and couldn't control what was going out of his mouth anymore. "And now, I'm done living for you! I can start living for myself, no matter the consequences, because I have finally understood, unlike you, that something as insignificant as name, or money, or power, all of these are not as important as being at peace with oneself!" He finally stopped, feeling the heat radiating from his own cheeks.

"Are you quite finished now, Draco?" Lucius said softly.

God, even then, even after all he had told him, the man still managed to make the hairs stand on end at the back of his neck. "Please come and have a seat next to me," he added in a sugary voice that annoyed Draco more than it should have.

His mother came closer and made him sit on the chair next to the bed. Draco hesitated for a fraction of a second before finally complying. He would listen to whatever his father had to tell him, but he would certainly not make things easy for him. He felt his mother's comforting hand on his shoulder.

He had come a long way over the last few days. He had finally understood that his parents weren't perfect, and that he had to choose what he wanted from life according to his standards, not his family's. If one thing, his father's actions had showed him the way to another kind of life, a better, fuller one, a life he would choose for himself, without trying to live up to somebody else's expectations. So he was willing to listen to what his father would tell him. But the balance had shifted now. He finally felt he was the only master of his destiny, and it felt strangely exciting.

* * *

Lucius was impressed by the fire he could see in his son's eyes, and somewhere deep inside, he felt a rush of pride at this boy asserting himself and becoming a man. It was as if he was discovering his son with new eyes, and at that precise moment, he admired Draco for being able to stand to him like that, something he, Lucius, had never managed to do with his own father. It was a new feeling that Lucius wanted to keep warm inside of him.

"Draco, my son, I will first tell you something that I have not said much in my life, but I mean every word," Draco nodded slowly. "I am sorry, Draco, for hurting you. Please believe me when I tell you that I would never, ever, have used that potion had I known beforehand what it would do to you. Never, Draco, you hear me?" Draco sneered and Lucius' heart clenched tightly.

"I- you are my only son, Draco, and the whole-" he exhaled. "The whole ordeal I have put you through, made me realise how much you mattered to me," Draco opened his mouth to talk, but Lucius raised his bandaged arm to silence him. "Please let me say this, Draco." He could feel Narcissa's gaze on him, and it helped him find the courage. He closed his eyes. "You're my only son, Draco, and from now on, I will do my best to respect you the way you are and not, as you said, try to shape you the way I want you to be." He opened his eyes again, and fixed them into his wife's, taking courage from this amazing woman, the love of his life.

"I have made sure you would not have to suffer the consequences of my reckless behaviour anymore. I haven't been a good father, by many standards, but I have at least ensured that you would live, and live with all your abilities intact. I have never told you that, Draco, because I was afraid it would soften you, but I am proud of you and I am sure you will achieve great things-"

"I don't care about achieving great things, Father," Draco stepped in. "Look where it has led us to? I just want to lead a simple, happy life, Father, I wish for nothing more," Lucius winced at the words that hurt him more than they should have.

"Right, well Draco, all I want is your happiness, and if your happiness lies in the arms of- of another man, then so be it. I just hope that one day you'll find it in yourself to forgive me for all the wrongs I have done to you. This is my only wish, Draco. I sincerely want you to be happy." Lucius didn't know when he had turned so soft, but as crazy as it sounded, it felt rather good.

Draco considered him for a while, a long while, before finally saying, "I will keep that in mind, Father, and I wish you recover soon. As for the rest, it will take me a long time to forgive you for what you did, and if one day I ever manage to somehow have children, I hope I won't make the same mistakes you did, and won't place futile matters before their own well-being. Now if you'll excuse me," he stood up, kissed his mother on the cheek before hugging her tightly and left the room without another word. Lucius' heart broke at the sound of the door closing but knew he deserved all of that and even more. From now on, he would work hard on keeping his promise to his son.

* * *

Harry was anxiously waiting for Draco in their room. He was worried for him of course, and a little bit for Narcissa. He realised he didn't want either of them to get hurt even more by what had already happened. He couldn't care less about Lucius Malfoy's fate, to be honest; but he knew it would have profound consequences on the man he loved, and so prayed for the Death Eater to come out of the whole thing relatively unharmed.

He couldn't rest. He had to do something to distract himself, because he was getting more and more anxious as time went by. As he was pacing the room for the umpteenth time, his eyes caught the small package Hermione had given him a few days ago. The different issues of the Daily Prophet recounting what had happened to Draco and him. After a slight hesitation, he finally decided to give it a go.

He started with the day Draco had collapsed in the Great Hall. The title that day had been, "MALFOY HEIR STRUCK BY STRANGE DISEASE" and right under it, was a picture of Harry kneeling with Draco's head on his lap. Harry had no idea how the Prophet had got the picture, but he supposed there was always someone ready to take advantage of other people's misfortune. The caption under the picture read, "Chosen One rushing to the rescue: more than meets the eye?" The article right under it just kept retelling the events though, not insisting too much on Harry's odd reaction, and simply stating that Draco had been taken to the hospital wing and remained under close scrutiny.

Harry passed rapidly on to the next few issues, with titles ranking from, "MALFOY HEIR STILL IN HOSPITAL WING," or "ARE PUPILS STILL SAFE IN HOGWARTS?" and "MALFOY HEIR OUT OF TROUBLE!" and chose to focus on the most recent one.

The title read, "CHOSEN ONE OFFICIALLY DATING EX-DEATH EATER."

Of course. What else could have been expected? At least they had added the "ex" next to Death Eater. Harry sighed and started to read the article.

 

 

 

_CHOSEN ONE OFFICIALLY DATING EX-DEATH EATER by Rita Skeeter,_

_A source confirmed today that Harry Potter, the Saviour of the Wizarding World, is indeed dating Draco Malfoy, ex-Death Eater, and Lucius Malfoy's son. Potter and Malfoy have been seen together many times over the last few days, and were 'rather cosy,' another source stated. 'They were all smiles, and kept looking at each other with googly eyes,' a Hogwarts' fifth year student, who wished to remain anonymous, added. The rumour had been persistent since the Chosen One had rushed to Malfoy's side as he collapsed in the Great Hall of Hogwarts (see Daily Prophet n° 27,062)._

_Sources say that Potter and Malfoy have probably been dating for a few months. Reactions to this unexpected turn of events – Malfoy and Potter had clearly been on different sides of the war, vary. Mrs D, from Godric's Hollow, declares, 'This is disgusting. How could Harry Potter, of all people, betray our cause, and consort with an ex-Death Eater? The Malfoy family has blood on its hands, and I am utterly disappointed in Potter's choice of partner. It is a huge shock to me." Most of the wizards we have met for our investigation agree on this point._

_A few of them though, have a slightly different opinion. Mrs G, from London, considers that it is a rather encouraging sign for the Wizarding World: 'If Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, former enemies, are able to put their differences aside, and make something positive out of the whole situation, then there is great hope for us. I wish everybody was able to see past what divides us, and look at this as a symbol of our world sticking together after the terrible things that have hurt us immensely,' she added._

Harry put the newspaper down without reading the rest and sighed heavily. He couldn't blame people for what they were thinking, once again. Draco had indeed been a Death Eater, he had indeed been Harry's enemy, and his family did have blood on its hands, starting with none other than Sirius'. And many more.

A small click to the door announced him the arrival of his boyfriend. Draco stepped in and Harry searched his face worryingly.

"How is he?"

"He's fine," Draco said, slowly closing the door, and slouching on the bed, forearms resting on his lap. Harry let out a breath and felt somewhat relieved. "He's lost all his magic though."

"Oh," and Harry came and sat next to him, sending his arm on Draco's shoulder, holding him close. He felt Draco relax in his embrace, and rub his cheek gently against Harry's. "What- what happened exactly?"

"He used an ancient spell to transfer all his magic to me. That's why I retrieved it and why he was so weak afterwards."

Harry was stunned. How was it possible? After the harm Lucius Malfoy had done to his son, after nearly killing him over some stupid beliefs, he had taken a sharp turn and both saved his son  _and_  transferred his own magic, rendering himself completely powerless? Lucius Malfoy had done that, really? Harry couldn't help admiring the gesture, despite everything he thought about the man. The guy had finally come up to his senses and done something utterly selfless, maybe for the first time in his life. Harry was speechless.

"Harry?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was- somewhere else," he removed a strand of blond hair from Draco's eyes and let his fingers brush slightly down his cheek. "I- it's- it's-"

"Ever the articulate one, Potter," Draco smirked, and with those simple words, all the tension that had been weighing heavily in the room a moment ago dissolved. Harry felt relieved at his boyfriend's sudden change of mood. He decided that, since he was not good with words, he would rather show Draco how he felt.

He pressed his lips against his, gently at first, his hand resting on Draco's cheek, and they started kissing tenderly, a very chaste kiss, in which Harry tried to convey all the emotions that were boiling under the surface of his skin. He swiftly removed his glasses and discarded them on the nightstand and then gently pressed his hand on his boyfriend's chest and made him lie down on the bed, deepening the kiss. Draco moaned in his mouth when Harry started climbing on him and licking his lower lip with the tip of his tongue, before invading Draco's mouth and caressing it with rapidly increasing hunger.

Harry felt Draco place his hands on his hips, as he was now straddling him, and started rubbing himself on his rapidly growing hardness. The kiss intensified and soon, they were both panting heavily. Draco growled something like "too many clothes," into Harry's mouth.

Harry chuckled. "What was that spell again?"

Draco squirmed a bit beneath Harry and managed to slip a hand under him, retrieving his wand. He then murmured, " _nudere!_ " and their clothes vanished at once.

"God, I love this spell," Harry smiled, crushing his mouth to his boyfriend's once again, and letting his hand wander its way down Draco's body, before cupping his erection, eliciting a long moan from him.

Harry was now stroking his boyfriend slowly, rubbing his thumb over the slit and spreading the liquid that had pooled there, soon craving for more – and for something different. As he intensified his strokes, he realised he wanted, hell he  _needed_  to know how it felt to be inside him. For five months, Harry had very happily bottomed, but now he wanted to be the one in charge, as glorious as it was to be on the receiving end.

He pressed his mouth hard against Draco again, revelling in the incredible feeling of their tongues caressing each other's hungrily, and put his hands on Draco's thighs. He then started to spread them, resting his legs in between, without breaking his rhythm.

He rubbed his erection hard against Draco's, and left his boyfriend's lips to reach his neck.

"Draco, I'd like to… do things differently tonight, I… I'd like to make love to you…"

"What?" Draco froze instantly and forced him to look in his eyes, a slightly worried look on his face. "Say that again?"

"I want to make love to you. I want to be inside you, I want to give you pleasure," Harry smiled shyly.

"Oh but you give me lots of pleasure already, Potter, you don't need to-"

"You know what I mean," Harry replied. "Please?"

Harry shifted slightly, and placed his erection between Draco's arse cheeks, pressing smoothly. He felt Draco tense, but Harry kissed the skin of Draco's collarbone over and over again. He knew Draco was processing the request and needed some time to think about the whole thing but he was almost desperate now, trying hard to prevent his cock from pressing too far too quickly.

After what felt like hours to Harry, he finally heard Draco mutter " _lubricus!_ " and his fingers tingled with slick liquid on them. Harry whimpered, and pressed more kisses on to Draco's jawline, before pressing their mouths together again. Harry knew what that meant to Draco, the fact that he had never bottomed again after his first time, and he also knew Draco was willing to do it for the same reasons Harry had a few months ago: because he wanted to, of course, but also because he trusted and loved Harry so much that he wasn't afraid of sharing something so intimate with him.

Draco then turned and placed himself on his stomach, and Harry gasped at the sight. Merlin, Draco was so incredibly beautiful, all pale skin on the dark-green sheets! Harry started preparing him gently, the way Draco had done to him so many times. He kept checking everything was okay with his boyfriend, searching his face for the tiniest sign of unease as Draco was turning to look at him, but he was glad to see none, and instead read something else in Draco's eyes: lust.

"You okay?"

"I-, yes, Potter, I'm okay, now get your cock in there before I spill all over the bed with only your fingers in me," he answered, utterly flushed and panting heavily now.

Draco's words sent a surge of arousal to his already incredibly hard cock, and his fingers were slightly shaking with anticipation at the thought of what was coming next. He heard Draco cast the spell once more, and his dick was covered in the protective lubricant as he positioned himself between Draco's legs, his hands lifting Draco's arse slightly, before he slowly entered him.

" _Oh!_ " Draco exhaled as Harry passed the tight ring of muscles, and went all the way in achingly slowly. That was- fucking hell, that was absolutely wonderful. The tightness, the heat, all the different sensations – Harry had to focus hard on Draco if he didn't want to come right away and make a fool of himself. He went on as slowly as he could, trying to remember how Draco had done it to him the first time and soon, he found himself buried deep inside Draco. He let his boyfriend adjust to the sensation and revelled in the warm tightness clenching around his dick, closing his eyes, hands resting on either side of Draco on the bed.

"Are you okay?" he managed to ask his boyfriend after a while. He opened his eyes again to see that Draco had closed his and that a slight frown was forming on his beautiful face. God, was he hurting him?

"Draco?" he asked again, and this time Draco opened his eyes.

"I'm fine. Just- just get on with it, I'm gonna be all right."

"You sure? I mean, we can stop if it's too-"

"Don't you dare stop, Potter, I'm gonna be fine, now please get on with it now!"

"Okay…"

Harry started thrusting very slowly in and out of Draco, with long, slow thrusts at first, and he felt Draco relax little by little and respond to what Harry was doing to him. He started moaning and moving with him, and Harry increased his pace and soon his thrusts became less controlled. It felt amazing. Something Harry had never felt before obviously, but even so, it was fucking incredible. He was buried tight inside Draco, actively giving him pleasure, and that was adding a whole new dimension to the whole thing. He felt Draco writhing under him as he was moving faster, and he closed his eyes again, allowing himself to get lost in their lovemaking.

He flicked them open quickly though, when he was brutally dislodged from Draco's heat, and found himself on his back, Draco suddenly straddling his hips. Before Harry could process what had happened, Draco impaled himself on Harry's cock, a rather content smirk on his face and started fucking himself on it hard. God, he was unbelievable!

"Even there you have to be the one in charge, don't you?" Harry smiled and put his hands on Draco's hips, accompanying his movements.

"Yeah, well, you can't say you didn't know what you were signing in for when you started dating me." Draco's chuckles rippled through his cock.

He increased his pace, meeting Harry's thrusts greedily, eyes closed in deep concentration, biting his lower lip. Harry felt the now familiar waves of pleasure building up inside of him, and kept his eyes open as long as possible to admire his boyfriend's beautiful body. They went on like that for a while until Harry felt Draco on the edge. He arched his back in pleasure and clenched his arse tight on Harry's cock, and soon they were both coming hard, Harry buried deep inside Draco while Draco spilled his seed on Harry's stomach without even touching himself.

Draco then collapsed hard on Harry, and they stayed like that for a while, Harry pressing soft kisses on Draco's shoulder, his hands splayed on Draco's back, feeling himself getting soft as he closed his eyes and sluggishly dozed off in his boyfriend's arms, completely spent and sated.

* * *

The rest of the year passed incredibly quickly, and the boys barely had time to take a rest with the approaching exams. On this beautiful and sunny Saturday of early June though, they took a well-deserved break by the lake. Draco knew Harry would not forget about his birthday, as he had made sure to constantly remind him about it over the last few days, which had seemed to amuse Harry more than annoy him. That was another reason why Draco was so taken with him: Harry was probably the only guy loving him enough to go along with his odd little ways.

They stopped under a tree, and Harry slowly took out a very small bag from the inside of his robes, and Draco's eyes opened wide as Harry's entire arm disappeared inside of it.

"What the hell is that?"

"Undetectable Extension Charm," Harry replied with a huge grin, looking particularly proud of himself. He couldn't thank Hermione enough for teaching him the spell that had been so useful to them last year.

Draco licked his lips. "Extension Charm? Well, that's interesting!" and Harry hit him on his arm with his spare hand, almost losing his balance in the process, making Draco laugh hard at him.

Harry took out a navy blue blanket, which he spread under the tree, before fumbling in the bag again and retrieving a box containing huge sandwiches, a couple of bottles of butterbeers, mouth-watering muffins and finally a single candle that Harry deftly placed on top of one of the cakes. He then discarded the bag and sat cross-legged on the other side of Draco.

Draco didn't know what to say. It wasn't much, but he was feeling incredibly grateful for Harry's gesture. He was feeling well, loved, deeply loved, and taken care of and it felt amazingly good.

"That's… unexpected," he finally said.

Harry frowned. "How could this be unexpected since you've spent the last couple of weeks reminding me about your birthday fifty-thousand times a day?" he grinned.

"Well, I had to make sure you would remember," Draco muttered, more overcome by emotion than he would have thought, his eyes slightly prickling.

Harry cast a quick, " _incendio!_ " on the candle, and held the muffin before Draco's face, the gentle breeze of that warm day making the tiny flame flicker madly.

"Happy birthday, Draco," Harry said, his voice almost a whisper. "Make a wish," and Draco closed his eyes, holding his breath. He didn't have to look too far to know what to wish for. He already had so much more than he would have expected from life only a year ago! He felt dizzy at the thought of what his own self from the past would have thought on his eighteenth birthday, had he known what this new year would bring on for him.

And at this moment, Draco knew exactly what to wish for. He gently blew on the candle.

When he opened his eyes again, his serious expression reflected on Harry's own, and they looked intensely at each other for a while. Then Harry broke their trance by giving him his most gorgeous smile, kneeling to lean over the still untouched food and press his lips against Draco's.

He then pulled back and thrust his arm into the small bag again, taking out a small box followed by a larger one, nicely wrapped in a beautiful dark green paper adorned with a silver ribbon. His colours.

"Please start with the bigger one," Harry eagerly said.

"Right," Draco answered, grabbing the rather heavy box. He slowly undid the ribbon, then carefully removed the wrapping paper with trembling fingers, and opened the box.

It was a Potions kit, containing vials of different sizes, a silver knife, a mortar and pestle, along with an assortment of various ingredients Draco recognised instantly.

"I thought it would help you practice before you start your apprenticeship," Harry said, "that way you wouldn't lose your touch over the summer." Draco was deeply touched by the gesture. He had owled all the Potions Masters of the country over the last few weeks, but nobody had accepted to take him as an apprentice, as was to be expected. He had been about to give up, when Slughorn, who had heard about his difficulties, had put in a good word to one of his oldest friends for him. Arcturus Crowley was a retired Potions Master but had accepted to at least meet Draco and discuss the conditions. In the end, he had been impressed by Draco's obvious skills at Potions, and had accepted to take him as his apprentice, provided he passed his NEWTs. This had been such a relief for Draco!

He smiled at Harry and kissed him hard, cupping the back of his head. "Thank you," he simply said against his boyfriend's lips, "it's great, Harry."

"Open this one now," and Draco frowned, wondering what could be hidden in that small box, all the while thinking about the Snitch he kept with him everywhere he went.

He opened the box and gasped as he saw the tiny silver object in it.

A key.

His heart beat faster and he managed to say, "Wh- what-"

Harry smiled widely. "It's the spare key from the house my godfather left me when he- when he died," Harry explained and Draco felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Harry's godfather. Sirius Black, his mother's cousin, who had been murdered by his Aunt Bella. Shit. No, don't think about that now, Draco. He chose to focus on the present instead and took another look at the key. He slowly started to realise the meaning of Harry's gift.  _Spare key_. Of Harry's house. Could that mean that-

"I'm planning to move in there for a while after we graduate, and so I thought that maybe… I mean, I would really like it if-" he took a deep breath and said pretty fast, "if you could come and live there with me."

Draco's heart skipped a beat, and he nearly choked on his own tongue, and this time, he couldn't contain the tears that were slowly forming in his eyes. He blinked several times, before eventually closing them to prevent the tears from rolling on his cheeks, and took a deep breath.

Harry wanted Draco to move in with him. Harry wanted to live with him, to share his house, to share his daily life, and so much more. Draco quickly conjured images of what it could be like, and realised he wanted nothing more than that. He felt Harry's hand on his, and swallowed hard, trying to regain composure before slowly opening his eyes again and facing a worried Harry.

"Draco, I- you don't have to-"

"Yes," Draco cut him, "yes, yes, yes," he said again, overcome with joy, finally throwing himself at his boyfriend, not caring about whatever stood between them, as he kissed him hard, holding him tight, probably crunching his boyfriend's limbs in the process, but he didn't care, he was so happy! So incredibly fucking happy! Harry was running his hands all over him now, laughing heartily and Draco's heart was beating so fast he was afraid it would stop.

He finally lifted his head, his body still pressed hard on Harry's, and removed his boyfriend's glasses. He then looked deep into his beautiful green eyes, removing a strand of dark hair from his forehead. As he lay there, under the protective shadow of the tree by the lake, panting heavily, he couldn't help wondering how he had ended up so incredibly lucky. But no matter what was awaiting him from now on, he knew he wouldn't have to face it alone.

So many things had happened over the last few months! He felt a different man altogether. He had grown, matured, and discovered feelings he didn't know he could have. He had also realised his parents, especially his father, weren't flawless, and above all, he had discovered what it was to be madly in love with someone.

That this someone had been Harry Potter of all people still sounded crazy to his own ears, but looking back, he realised it had always been about Harry, all those years. Harry had always managed to get under Draco's skin like no other, and that kept Draco grounded, all the while making him more confident and peaceful.

He closed his eyes as Harry pulled him back into a kiss, and the sweet love they made a few moments after had the taste of eternity.


	23. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the epilogue, with a little something for LokiLiesmith who wanted to hear about Theo. Hope you'll like it! :)
> 
> A HUGE thank you to my faithful beta CleopatraIsMyName for her constant support during those five crazy months. Thank you so, so much! :D

 

 

**Epilogue**

_Fifteen years later._

The first touch was not enough to stir him out of consciousness and he was barely aware of it. The second one though, hit him in the calf, and made him squirm a little. He received the third one in the ribs – a sharp elbow he figured – and this time, the blow was enough to wake him up. He turned on his side, facing the wall, and tried to get back to sleep but a second later, the mattress jumped and Harry was no longer covered by his duvet. He turned swiftly, slightly annoyed, and propped himself on his elbow, facing a large expense of pale flesh, and he couldn't help admiring his husband's back.

"Right, what's wrong, Draco?"

"Oh, you're awake?" Draco turned to face Harry, mimicking his position on the bed.

"Yeah, and I wonder why?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Um, maybe you've had a bad dream or something?"

God, Draco was unbelievable! Harry knew he should have been mad at his husband for waking him like that, but the look on Draco's face was so endearing – trying his best to look innocent and failing remarkably – that Harry couldn't help but smile. He could never resist him very long anyway, so there was no use pretending.

"Why don't you tell me what's bothering you instead?"

"What? Nothing's bothering me!"

"Draco…"

Draco sighed. "Okay. I'm still not convinced this is a good idea."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really, Draco? You really wanna have this discussion all over again? We've talked about it like what, three hundred and fifty-five times?"

"You think I'm ridiculous."

Harry smiled again. They had left school over fifteen years ago, but Draco was still very much a Slytherin at heart. Harry chose not to dwell on his husband's feeble attempt to manipulate him though. "No, I just think you're cute."

"Cute? Who you calling cute, Potter?"

"You." And Harry moved closer and ran his hand in Draco's soft hair, caressing him gently before pressing a soft kiss on his mouth.

"Mmmm." Draco closed his beautiful grey eyes, the greyest eyes Harry had ever seen and that made him melt, even after all these years.

"Look, I know you're nervous, but there's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Draco flicked his eyes open. "Well, you say so. How do I know that everything is going to go well?"

"Because it will. And because you trust me when I tell you everything will be just fine."

"But-"

Harry pressed his lips on Draco's again. "You talk too much."

"Hey, that's my line!" Draco replied indignantly.

"Well, you must've rubbed off on me!"

"Um, but you love it when I rub on you, don't you?" Draco kissed him again, and settled on top of him. Oh sweet Merlin, Harry definitely liked his husband rubbing on him! They started moving against each other, running their hands on the soft skin, and soon the temperature went up a notch in the room. Draco kissed Harry hard again on the mouth, sucking on his tongue, and left his lips to attack his neck while his hands wandered lower. Harry closed his eyes and arched his back.

Draco left Harry's neck to tease his nipples with his tongue, making Harry gasp. He then started slowly kissing his way down.

"Well, someone's happy to see me!" Draco said from under the covers.

"I'm  _always_  happy to see you-  _Oh!_ " Harry groaned as he felt Draco tracing the length of his shaft, from base to top with his tongue, before engulfing him all at once.

"Oh, fuck, Draco!" Harry let out a low moan as the most wonderful warmth enveloped his dick over and over again.

"Shhh… getting there," Draco replied before resuming his task, making Harry writhe some more on the cotton sheets.

"Oh, Draco, I won't- God, Draco, I'm-" he was stopped dead in his tracks by stomping feet in the stairs soon followed by giggles coming from the other side of the bedroom door. He felt Draco jerk his head fast and crawl up next to him. They both waited for a moment before they heard whispers again.  _Yep, party's over_ , Harry thought.

"Shit, they're awake!" Draco groaned. He got up at once, heading for the bathroom.

"Daddy? Papa? Are you ready?" despite the circumstances – and the fact that he was still half-hard – Harry smiled.  _Oh, boys,_   _always the best timing!_ he thought, hearing the giggles of his two beautiful children. His heart warmed at once.

"Coming, boys!"

"You wish," he heard Draco mumble and he chuckled, finally getting up.

Goose bumps instantly formed on his body – Draco always insisted on sleeping with the windows open, even in winter. He hastily closed them with a flick of his wand and cast a heating charm. He then put his pyjamas back on, as well as his dressing gown.

Harry stuck his head by the bathroom door. His husband was thoroughly washing his face – stark naked, which was a sight Harry couldn't be tired of. God, Draco was still so beautiful, even after all these years! The curve of his perfect round arse, the hard lines of his back, his long legs that clamped beautifully around his hips when Harry was making love to him…

"Stop that, Potter, you're drooling," Draco snapped, grabbing a towel and drying his face. Harry smiled. He knew his husband enough to know that Draco was flattered.

"Yeah well, you ready? You do realise that we have to open to them at some point, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, coming," Draco grumbled and left the bathroom, turning the lights off. He put his pants on, and soon Harry was standing by the door, as he jumped back under the covers.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nice, thanks!"

"You're very welcome." Draco stifled a yawn.

Harry flicked his wand once and murmured " _Alohomora!_ " thus unlocking the door.

"Daddy!" Harry almost fell backwards as the two boys threw themselves at him, trying to climb into his arms at the same time.

"Ouch, boys, don't you think you're a bit too heavy for that now?" Harry laughed heartily, as the four-year-olds held onto him like their lives depended on it. Harry cast a glance at his husband who was  _laughing_  at him, the bastard, arms folded on his bare chest. Harry finally managed to move with one boy in each arm, stumbling dangerously, before sending them crashing on the bed where Draco started tickling them, making them howl with laughter.

"All right, boys, we've had fun, but now it's time to calm down a little," Harry said after a while, taking hold of the blond boy and sitting him on his lap while Draco was doing the same with his brother.

"Let's go downstairs and have breakfast, and then we'll go and get dressed." 

"Come on, Scorpius! Breakfast!" Albus jumped from Draco's knees and ran out of the room, his brother following closely.

Harry leaned on Draco and kissed him hard on the lips, before running a finger on his cheek.

"What's with kids always interrupting their parents at the worst of times?" Draco said moodily.

"Hey, that's okay, we'll have plenty of time to make up for that later on!"

"I certainly count on it, Potter," and Harry kissed him hard again.

Breakfast was animated as usual. Albus tried to help himself with the milk but failed to reach his bowl by an inch or two, so Harry had to cast a " _Tergeo!_ " Draco was keeping an eye on Scorpius who was quietly sorting his cereals by shape on the side of his bowl. The boys were soon finished, and hurried back to their bedroom while Harry and Draco were clearing the table.

"Hey, guess who I ran into while I was purchasing Castor Oil on Diagon Alley yesterday?" Draco asked as he flicked his wand to set the washing-up in motion.

"Tell me," Harry paused to look at him.

"Theodore Nott."

"Oh." Even after all these years, Harry felt a pang of jealousy at the thought Draco had seen his ex. "Still happily married?" he asked innocently while spelling the last of the crumbs away from the table. 

"Funny he asked me the same thing," Draco grinned. The prat was clearly enjoying himself there, and Harry narrowed his eyes.

"So?"

"Well yes, he is still happily married. Adrian and he are about to go around the world for a year."

"How exciting," Harry muttered, and jumped a little when Draco came to encircle him in his arms from behind.

"You know I love that you're still jealous of him after all these years?"

"Yeah well, it's not as if I had a bunch of exes to make you jealous with myself," and Harry turned to take Draco in his arms and kiss him. "I guess the good news is that he won't be around for a while."

Draco laughed. "That's one way to see it!"

They joined the boys upstairs to get them ready and soon they were gone.

"Hurry up, Papa, we don't wanna be late!" Albus was tugging on Draco's hand, trying to make him walk faster, before letting go and running after Scorpius on the pavement.

"Look at them running like mad in front of us! Why is it that they are so looking forward to the whole thing anyway?" Draco said in disbelief.

"Because," Harry replied patiently, "unlike a certain someone, they both know they're gonna have great fun at school!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Tell me again why it is so important for them to go to school, a Muggle one on top of that?"

"Because, that will teach them how to behave around their peers, and help them socialise and meet new friends!"

"Well, I had a private tutor at the Manor, and I was perfectly socialised, thank you very much!"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, sorry to break this to you now, but you're not the most outgoing person I know, Draco Malfoy. Or shall I remind you how you tried to become my friend back in first year? I don't think insulting my newly found friend proved your social skills in any way back then."

"It doesn't count; it was a Weasley."

"Shut up, Malfoy, and look at your boys! They're happy! They're excited! They want this!"

Draco sighed. "Maybe. But promise me that if this doesn't work, we'll reconsider the whole school thing for them, okay?"

"Right, I promise we'll talk about it should anything go wrong."

"Fine."

They joined their children in front of a green gate.

"Ready boys?"

"Yeah!" Albus and Scorpius shouted at the same time.

"Draco?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Great! Let's go, then!" and they all went in.

They were greeted by the Headmaster who showed them the way to the Reception classroom and headed down there. The boys were quieter now that they had entered the premises of the school.

"This place is creepy," Draco muttered but Harry heard him nevertheless.

He snorted. "Yeah, because the Manor wasn't?"

Draco glared at him. "No, it wasn't! The Manor was perfectly appropriate! Who needs all these flashy colours and doubtful paintings on the walls anyway?" Harry couldn't help but smile at Draco's remark.

"Hello!" a middle-aged woman greeted them at the door of the classroom. She crouched down to talk to the boys.

"And who are these two young men?" The boys were suddenly very shy and held on their fathers tight, hiding behind their legs.

"Well, boys?" Harry looked down at them.

Albus looked up at Harry before diverting his eyes to the lady in front of him. "I'm Albus, and this is my brother Scorpius," the little boy finally said.

"I'm very happy to meet you! I'm Mrs Meehan, and I will be your teacher for the year."

Harry could feel Draco tense next to him, and he brought his hand closer to his husband's, gently brushing their fingers together in comfort.

"Well boys, why don't you go into the classroom and take a look at all the toys we have in there?"

Scorpius and Albus seemed to hesitate for a moment, and looked up at their fathers again, before Albus finally grabbed Scorpius' hand and dragged him along with him. The little blond boy seemed reluctant to follow him at first, but then he saw a bunch of little cars on the rug and decided to take a closer look at them.

Mrs Meehan followed them with her eyes for a while before turning back to Harry and Draco. "And you must be…"

Harry cleared his throat. "Their fathers. I'm Harry, and this is my husband, Draco."

Mrs Meehan narrowed her eyes a little. "Right. Well, nice to meet you, then. I'm sure your boys will have a lovely year!"

"We hope so too," Draco replied coldly and Harry elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"We're sure they're gonna love it here!" Harry stepped in. "Now if there is anything…"

* * *

 

But Draco wasn't listening anymore. So was his life now. His boys were starting school, and soon they would go to Hogwarts. He couldn't believe how fast time passed, and how full his life had turned out to be.

This was what he had wished for on his nineteenth birthday, on that beautiful day when Harry had asked him to move in with him. A simple, albeit rich family life with the man he loved. It wasn't always easy; living with someone, sharing the most intimate parts of one's being on a daily basis – not to mention raising two little boys – was challenging, and like any couple, they had to make compromise in order to make it all work.

But in the end, here they were fifteen years later, still together and ridiculously happy, eager to see what life still had in store for them. He smiled and thrust his hand into his pocket, gently rolling the Snitch in his fingers.

He couldn't wait.

FIN.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of the story! I'm very sad to see it go, especially since it was my very first multi-chaptered story! 
> 
> I wanted to thank you all for reading, following and commenting on the story. I have loved reading your thoughts on it, and I'm going to miss it! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! ♥
> 
> Follow me on [Tumblr!](http://sophiefrench77.tumblr.com/)


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